WILMINGTON, Del. - Dale MacDonald, group vice president, Coatings Specialties, Ashland Specialty Ingredients, has been nominated to the American Coatings Association (ACA) board of directors. MacDonald will serve a three-year term through April 2015.

MacDonald's career with Ashland began in 1990 and has included a variety of assignments with increasing management responsibility. In 1996, MacDonald became director of sales for the Fine Ingredients Division (FID). He assumed responsibility for ingredients source management, marketing and customer support in 1997 before being named general manager, FID, in April 2002. In September 2002, Ashland Distribution implemented a regional organizational structure, and MacDonald was tapped to lead the Midwest Region. A year later, he served as vice president over Ashland Distribution's East Region.

MacDonald served as president, Chemical Sector for China Operations of Ashland Inc. from 2005 to November 2008 and became the president of Ashland Asia Pacific in November 2008. He was responsible for accelerating Ashland's business development in China.

In 2009, MacDonald became vice president of Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredient's (AAFI) Coatings Additives industry group responsible for business management and strategy development, focused on driving growth of the coatings additives business globally. Simultaneously, he became a member of AAFI's management committee.

Prior to joining Ashland, MacDonald worked for Dow Chemical Canada gaining experience in sales and product management. MacDonald attended Alma College, where he received a bachelor's degree, majoring in biology, and minoring in sociology. He earned a master's degree in business administration from The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business and also is a graduate of the Executive Development Program at Indiana University's Kelly School of Business.

About Ashland Specialty Ingredients
Ashland Specialty Ingredients offers industry-leading products, technologies and resources for solving formulation and product performance challenges in key markets including personal care, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, coatings and energy. Using natural, synthetic and semi-synthetic polymers derived from plant and seed extract, cellulose ethers and vinyl pyrrolidones, Ashland Specialty Ingredients offers comprehensive and innovative solutions for today's demanding consumer and industrial applications.

About Ashland
In more than 100 countries, the people of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) provide the specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help customers create new and improved products for today and sustainable solutions for tomorrow. Our chemistry is at work every day in a wide variety of markets and applications, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care, pharmaceutical, tissue and towel, and water treatment. Visit www.ashland.com to see the innovations we offer through our four commercial units -Ashland Specialty Ingredients, Ashland Water Technologies, Ashland Performance Materials and Ashland Consumer Markets.