Contact: Tracy Cullen
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DUPONT'S AUSTIN ELECTED CHAIR OF SPI

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 25, 2006) – J.E. (Jane) Austin, global business director for DuPont Performance Elastomers, was elected chair of the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) for 2006, becoming the first woman to head the nation's leading plastics industry group in its 70-year history.

"Jane is an outstanding, highly successful business leader and we feel very fortunate to have her at the helm of our industry organization at this critical time," said Bill Carteaux, SPI president and CEO. "Jane knows the industry, she knows the issues facing us, she knows the marketplace, and she knows what our members expect of SPI. She is exactly the right person at the right time."

Austin has been active in the SPI leadership for more than seven years, including several years as a board member, treasurer and member of the finance committee. She has also served on the Material Suppliers Council. SPI chairmen serve for one year, but are eligible to serve for a second term.

After graduating in chemical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1982, Austin joined DuPont as a process engineer in the textile fibers department. She subsequently held a variety of positions in R&D, manufacturing, supply chain and quality control before becoming global product manager for Vitron^® Fluoroelastomers in 1993 and global business director in 1996.

In 2000, she was appointed global business director for the rapidly growing Engage^® polyolefin elastomers business, and in 2003 became global business director, Chloroelastomers, in which DuPont is an industry leader.

A native of Virginia, Austin earned her MBA from the University of Delaware, where she won the Blaine G. Schmitt award for top graduating student.

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Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI's members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.3 million workers and provides nearly $345 billion in annual shipments.

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