Fred E. Festa

Fred E. Festa is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of W. R. Grace & Co. He joined the company as president and chief operating officer in November 2003 and assumed the CEO responsibilities in June 2005. He is only the company's seventh CEO since Grace was founded in 1854. Fred became Chairman of the Board on January 1, 2008.

Fred came to Grace from Morgenthaler Private Equity Partners, an $850 million venture/buy out firm focused on mid-market industrial build ups, where he was a partner since November 2002.

From 2000 to 2002, Fred was president and CEO of ICG Commerce, a 450-person, privately held company offerings online procurement services. During his tenure, he grew revenues from $5 million to $45 million and built-out the company's offering in Europe through the acquisition of Accenture's EP Value groups in the United Kingdom and Germany.

He joined Allied Signal (now Honeywell) in 1993, where he held a series of increasingly responsible positions in general management and finance, ultimately serving as vice president and general manager of Allied Signal's performance fibers business from 1998 to 2000. Fred began his career at General Electric (GE), where he spent 12 years in financial management positions. While there, he completed GE's Financial Management Training Program and its benchmark General Management Course.

Fred graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from SUNY (State University of New York) Oswego. He is an outside director of Formed Fiber Technologies, Inc., an established manufacturer of fabrics and fibers.

Grace is a leading global supplier of catalysts and other products to petroleum refiners; catalysts for the manufacture of plastics; silica-based engineered and specialty materials for a wide-range of industrial applications; sealants and coatings for food and beverage packaging, and specialty chemicals, additives and building materials for commercial and residential construction. With annual sales of more than $3.1 billion, Grace has about 6,500 employees and operations in over 40 countries.

January 2008
Corporate Communications
W. R. Grace & Co.
7500 Grace Drive
Columbia, MD 21044
+1 410.531.4000