Rohm and Haas

From the 1940s to the 1970s, the company's plant in Bridesburg, PA had a high rate of lung cancer in workers involved in the production of bis(chloromethyl)ether (BCME), which the company tried to blame on smoking. (54 who died. The Philadelphia Inquirer, Today, Oct. 26, 1975.)

BCME is highly toxic, and the cancer could have been a secondary effect of this toxicity, similar to the case of bracken fern and bladder cancer in cattle where a papillomavirus was the underlying cause.

Vincent L. Gregory Jr.

Gregory became CEO of the company in 1970, when direct control of the company by the Haas family ended. (Company Overview. Rohm & Haas, accessed Feb. 28, 2006.) Vincent L. Gregory Jr. is serves as chairman of the advisory board of the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention, whose publications include the Harvard Report on Cancer Prevention
Volume 1: Causes of Human Cancer (Cancer Causes & Control 1996 Nov;7(suppl). "Development of the Harvard Report on Cancer Prevention was supported by the generous contributions of Margorie G. and Vincent L. Gregory Jr." The report is clearly obsolete, suffers from confounding, and pretends that only 5% of cancer is caused by infection (Harvard Reports on Cancer Prevention Volume II: Prevention of Cancer). The editors included Graham A. Colditz; Dimitrios Trichopoulos, author of early passive smoking studies which ignored the role of infection, and later, studies of smoking and liver cancer which are overtly fraudulent because they failed to employ sufficient tests to detect hepatitis B virus infection; and Walter C. Willett, one of the fatcats of National Institutes of Health funding for his dietary studies which ignore the role of infection. Trichopoulos is a Vincent L. Gregory Professor of Cancer Prevention. Gregory Jr. was a member of the Visiting Committee of the Harvard School of Public Health in 1998, along with Kenneth H. Cooper and William H. Foege, co-author of the Sacred Lie of Health Fascism, McGinnis & Foege JAMA 1993.

Gilbert Omenn has been a director of this PC-speaking paint and chemical firm since 1987. In 1989, Rohm & Haas acquired Morton International, and James A. Henderson of Cummins Engines and director of Ryerson Tull (into which Inland Steel was merged) has been a director since then. More directors from the "Illinois Interlock" have shown up in recent years, such as James R. Cantalupo of McDonald's Corporation, and director of Illinois Tool Works and Sears Roebuck; and Richard L. Keyser of WW Grainger.

The Board of Directors of Rohm and Haas

William J. Avery, director since 1997 (2002)

Retired; previously chairman, CEO and director of Crown Cork & Seal Co. between 1989 and 2000.

George B. Beitzel, director since 1983 (1994)

Senior vice president and director of International Business Machines Corporation until retirement in 1987; director of Bankers Trust Company, Computer Task Group, Flight Safety International, Inc., Phillips Gas Company, Phillips Petroleum Company, Roadway Services, Inc., and TIG Holdings.

Daniel B. Burke, director since 1986 (1994)

Daniel B. Burke was a Director of Capital Cities/ABC since 1967; and at various times from 1986 to 1994, COO, CEO, president and director of Capital Cities/ABC (and holder of Warren Buffett's proxy while CEO); director of Avon Products and Consolidated Rail Corporation.

In 1997, Burke and former Philip Morris Chairman and CEO Michael A. Miles were elected to the board of directors of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

James R. Cantalupo, director since 1999 (2002)

Former president, CEO and vice chairman, of McDonald's Corp., 1991-2002; director of Illinois Tool Works, International Flavors and Fragrances, McDonalds, and Sears, Roebuck.

J. Michael Fitzpatrick, director since 1999 (2002)

Chief technology officer, vice president, president and COO of Rohm and Haas between 1993 and 2002; director of Carpenter Technology and McCormick & Co. Inc.

Earl G. Graves, director since 1984 (1994, 2002)

Chairman and CEO of Earl G. Graves Ltd. since 1972; retired chairman and CEO of Pepsi-Cola of Washington, DC; publisher and editor of Black Enterprise magazine since 1970; director of Aetna Life and Casualty, and Chrysler Corporation (1994); director of Aetna Inc., AMR Corp. and its subsidiary, American Airlines Inc., Daimler-Chrysler AG, and Federated Department Stores Inc. (2002). He was elected to the board of directors of Liggett & Myers Tobacco in 1971.

Rajiv L. Gupta, director since 1999 (2002)

Chairman, CEO and other executive positions of Rohm and Haas between 1993 and the present; director of Agere Systems, Technitrol Inc. and Vanguard.

David W. Haas, director since 1999 (2002)

Chairman and director of the William Penn Foundation since 1998; cousin of Thomas W. Haas.

Thomas W. Haas, director since 1999 (2002)

Director and corporate officer of the William Penn Foundation; cousin of David W. Haas.

James A. Henderson, director since 1989 (1994, 2002)

President, COO and director of Cummins Engine Co., 1995-1999; director of Inland Steel Industries, Inc., and Ameritech Corporation (1994); director of Championship Auto Racing Teams, International Paper Co., Nanophase Technologies Corp., Ryerson Tull Inc. (to which part of Inland Steel was sold), and SBC Communications (2002).

Richard L. Keyser, director since 1999 (2002)

Variously chairman, president and CEO of W.W. Grainger between 1995 and the present; director of The Principal Financial Group.

John H. McArthur, director since 1977 (1994, 2002)

Senior advisor to the president of World Bank Group since 1996; dean of Harvard Business School until 1995; director of Cabot Corporation, Chase Manhattan Corporation, Springs Industries Inc., and Teradyne Inc. (1994); director of AES Corp., Ardais Corp., BCE Inc., BCE Emergis, Cabot Corp., e-Rewards Inc., HCA Inc. [this is US Sen. William Frist's family firm -cast], GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Koc Holdings AS, and Telsat Canada (2002).

Paul F. Miller, Jr., director since 1969 (1994)

Partner of Miller Associates, a private investment partnership and limited partner of Miller, Anderson & Sherrerd since 1992, previously a general partner in Miller, Anderson & Sherrerd from 1969 to 1991; director of Hewlett-Packard, the Mead Corporation and SPS Technologies. Miller, Anderson & Sherrerd was a big investor in Cummins Engine Co. in 1998.

Miller has been a director of Hewlett-Packard from 1984 to 1987. Fellow directors include Harold J. Haynes, who was a trustee of the RAND Corporation during its Manning study of smoking costs.

Jorge P. Montoya, director since 1996 (2002)

President and other executive positions with Proctor & Gamble since 1996; director of AT&T Latin America.

Sandra A. Moose, director since 1981 (1994, 2002)

Senior vice president and director of The Boston Consulting Group Inc. since 1989; director of GTE Corporation and 27 investment companies sponsored by New England Funds (1994); director of Nvest Funds and Verizon Communications (2002).

John P. Mulroney, director since 1982 (1994)

President and COO of Rohm and Haas since 1986; director of Teradyne Inc. and Aluminum Company of America.

Robert E. Naylor, director since 1986 (1994)

Rohm and Haas group vice president and regional director for North America and other executive positions since 1985; director of Airgas, Inc.

Gilbert S. Omenn, director since 1987 (1994, 2002)

Executive vice president for medical affairs at the University of Michigan, CEO of the University of Michigan Health System, and professor of Internal Medicine, Human Genetics, Public Health and The Cancer Center at the University of Michigan since 1997; Dean of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington, 1982-1997; director of Amgen and Immune Response Corp. (1994); and Amgen (2002).

Ronaldo H. Schmitz, director since 1992 (1994, 2002)

Currently an advisor, and formerly a member of the Board of Managing Directors of Deutsche Bank AG from 1991 to 2000; previously member of the Board of Managing Directors from 1980 until 1990 and CFO from 1984 until 1990 of BASF AG; director of Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH, Deutsche Bundesbahn Holding GmbH, Deutsche Pfandbrief-und Hypothekenbank AG, Druck-und Verlagshaus Gruner + Jahr AG, Godecke AG, Kaufhof Holding AG, Metallgesellschaft AG, Tchibo Holding AG and Villeroy & Boch AG (1994); director of Cabot Corp., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, and Legal and General Group Plc (2002).

Alan Schriesheim, director since 1989 (1994)

CEO and director of Argonne National Laboratory since 1984; director of Heico Corp.

Marna C. Whittington, director since 1989 (1994, 2002)

In 1994, partner of Miller, Anderson & Sherrerd and other executive positions since 1992; executive vice president and senior vice president at the University of Pennsylvania 1988-1992; director of Federated Department Stores. In 2002, president of Nicholas-Applegate Capital Managment since 2001; COO of Allianz Dresdner Asset Management since 2002; COO of Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Management from 1996 to 2001; director of Federated Department Stores.

J. Lawrence Wilson, director since 1977 (1994)

Chairman and CEO of Rohm and Haas since 1988; director of The Vanguard Group of Investment Companies and Cummins Engine Company.

In 1994, members of the Haas family, The Rohm and Haas Employees Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP, an anti-takeover device), Mellon Bank, AXA, and the Shipley family owned large percentages of the company.

In 2002, the Haas family and the company ESOP had control. Of 15 directors, there were 4 inside directors and 4 directors with Lasker ties.

Past directors

In 1986, N. Bruce Hannay of Bell Laboratories was a director of Rohm and Haas.

cast 10-28-11