CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AT PITT RECEIVE SUPPORT FROM BAYER CORPORATION

PITTSBURGH, June 29 -- The Bayer Corporation has approved a gift of $1,610,000 to the University of Pittsburgh to support programs in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. The major portion of the grant will be used to complete the endowment of the Bayer Chair in the Department of Chemistry, which is currently held by Distinguished Service Professor Dennis P. Curran. The remaining funds will go to endow the Development Professorship in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, which will be held by Professor Eric Beckman.

Helge H. Wehmeier, president and chief executive officer of Bayer Corporation, noted that Bayer has supported a variety of programs at Pitt over the years, including the work of Professor Curran, along with a Bayer Lecture Series in both the Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Departments, and the Bayer Graduate Fellows in Chemistry. "We value our long-standing relationship with the University of Pittsburgh and look forward to continuing our mutually beneficial relationship with Pitt to help shape the new millennium," he said.

Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg expressed the University's gratitude for the support. "Receiving a gift of this magnitude from one of the outstanding corporate citizens of our region and of the world is a tangible indication that the goals that we have set for the University are both important and achievable," he said. "Bayer and the University of Pittsburgh are each recognized as leaders in their fields, and we deeply appreciate this further investment in our partnership. These endowments will enhance the University's research and educational initiatives by enabling us to attract and retain leading-edge scientists such as Professors Curran and Beckman."

Nordenberg added that the University also valued its ongoing partnership with Bayer. "The Bayer Corporation, which clearly has become one of this region's leading institutional citizens, has contributed significantly to a number of areas at the University, ranging from chemistry and engineering to business, public health, and international affairs. We are deeply grateful for the confidence that they have expressed in the University and its mission, and we are proud to be a partner with them in addressing the regional, national, and international concerns of the next century."

Bayer Corporation is a research-based science company that is a leader in health care, life sciences, polymers, and chemicals industries. This leadership extends into primary and secondary school classrooms nationwide, where its unique blend of hands-on, inquiry-based learning, employee volunteerism, and education advocacy is building understanding of the importance of science in everyday life.

-30-

6/29/00/mgc