DuPont Executive’s Talk on Innovation Launches WC’s Celebration of Chemistry

CHESTERTOWN—A senior executive at chemical giant DuPont will deliver the J. C. Jones Seminar in American Business on Friday, February 18 as Washington College opens its year-long celebration of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry. Thomas M. Connelly, Jr., Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer of E. I. duPont de Nemours and Company, will lecture on “Hard Facts and Soft Skills for the Innovator of Tomorrow,” beginning at 5 p.m. in the Decker Theatre of Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue.

Dr. Connelly graduated with highest honors from Princeton University with degrees in chemical engineering and economics. As a Winston Churchill Scholar, he received his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Cambridge.

At DuPont, Connelly has responsibility for Applied BioSciences, Nutrition & Health, Performance Polymers, Packaging & Industrial Polymers businesses, and Science & Technology. He also oversees the company’s business in geographic regions outside the United States and serves in advisory roles to the U.S. Government and the Republic of Singapore.

The International Year of Chemistry (IYC-2011) was proclaimed by the United Nations to increase public appreciation of chemistry and chemical engineering in meeting the world’s needs; to encourage interest in chemistry and chemical engineering among young people; to generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry and chemical engineering; and to celebrate the achievements of Marie Curie and the contributions of women to chemistry and chemical engineering. Washington College IYC-2011 events will focus on the interactions, integration, and involvement of chemistry with business, medicine, energy needs, and the environment. It will conclude with a special ceremony on November 3, 2011 at which 1995 Chemistry Nobel Prize winner Mario Molina will receive an honorary doctor of science degree and deliver an address on “The Science and Policy of Climate Change.”

The J. C. Jones Seminar in American Business was established in honor of the late James C. Jones, Jr., a Baltimore businessman and 1947 graduate of Washington College who remained active in alumni affairs and served on the Board of Visitors and Governors of the College.

Admission to the February 18 Jones Seminar, cosponsored by the Departments of Business Management and Chemistry and SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in the Underwood Gallery.

DuPont Company CEO To Speak at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — Charles O. Holliday Jr., chairman and CEO of E. I du Pont de Nemours & Co., will speak about global companies' global responsibilities at 7 p.m., Friday April 7 in the Casey Academic Center Forum at Washington College.

His talk is free and open to the public.

Holliday is well positioned to discuss business and its responsibilities from a global standpoint. He is the first DuPont Company chief executive with extensive experience outside the United States and was elected chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in January 2000. Holliday spent seven years as chairman of DuPont Asia-Pacific, prior to returning to the United States to assume leadership of the company. Of his experience in Tokyo, he said, "Living in Asia enabled me to realize both the complexity of the global marketplace and the regional and national interdependencies that make our economic system work." He also served as director of global business for Kevlar(R) and Nomex(R).

Holliday's business strategy is based on sustainable growth that creates value for the company's shareholders and global societies and reduces the company's environmental footprint. Citing the DuPont Company's singular longevity, 200 years in 2002, Holliday says, "This makes us one of the most sustainable industrial companies anywhere in the world."

Washington College honored Holliday with a doctorate in 1998, the same year he was named CEO of the company. In 1999 he became DuPont Company chairman. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Holliday joined the company in 1970 after receiving his B.S. in industrial engineering at the University of Tennessee. He has worked throughout the United States during his career, with diverse responsibilities in several divisions of the company.

Holliday's talk is sponsored by the J. C. Jones Seminar in American Business.