James J. O'Brien

JAMES J. O’BRIEN, Ashland’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has
been with the company for 27 years and has a wealth of experience in
Ashland operations ‘ from chemicals to petroleum to motor oil marketing
and back. Mr. O’Brien joined the former Ashland Chemical Company in
1976, taking on assignments with increasing management responsibility
within the Foundry, Specialty Polymers and General Polymers divisions.
In 1992, he was named Executive Assistant to John R. Hall, then
Ashland’s Chairman and CEO. In 1994, O’Brien became Vice President and
General Manager of branded marketing for the former Ashland Petroleum
Company. A year later, he was selected to become President of Valvoline
and Vice President of Ashland Inc. He redirected Valvoline’s efforts and
developed a successful master brand strategy. Mr. O’Brien was named a
Senior Vice President of Ashland in 1997, and he joined Ashland’s
executive committee in 2001. A native of Circleville, Ohio, he is a
graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a Bachelor’s
degree in Accounting and Finance and a Master’s degree in Business
Administration. Today he serves his alma mater as a member of the Dean’s
Advisory Council for the Fisher Graduate College of Business. A
volunteer ‘big brother’ with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Bluegrass,
Mr. O’Brien also serves on the organization’s national board of
directors. Chairman of the board of trustees for Midway College in
Kentucky, he is a member of the Association of Governing Boards of
Universities and Colleges. He is also an advisory director of Fifth
Third Bank of Lexington, KY, serves on the Cincinnati Zoo board of
trustees, and is a member of the American Chemistry Council, the
American Petroleum Institute, and the National Petroleum Refiners
Association.