Albemarle Corporation Names Mark C. Rohr as Chairman of the Board Effective August 1, 2008

BATON ROUGE, La., May. 06 /PRNewswire/ --

BATON ROUGE, La., May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The board of directors of Albemarle Corporation , a leading global specialty chemicals manufacturer, today announced the appointment of Mark C. Rohr, age 56, as chairman, president and chief executive officer effective August 1, 2008. Rohr will succeed Dr. William M. Gottwald, 60, who has served as chairman of the board of directors since March 2001. Dr. Gottwald will remain on the board as vice chairman.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050801/ALBEMARLELOGO )

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080506/NETUV133 )

Rohr has served as president of Albemarle since January 1, 2000 and chief executive officer since October 1, 2002. During his term as president and chief executive officer, the company profitably integrated the Akzo Nobel refinery catalysts business along with several other business acquisitions. In addition, the company has expanded into new global markets including China and the Middle East through wholly owned manufacturing/technical facilities and joint ventures. Since 2002, Albemarle has increased net sales from $1.0 billion to $2.3 billion; grown diluted earnings per share from $0.85 in 2002 to $2.36 in 2007; and declared annual dividends from $0.27 per share in 2002 to an annualized rate of $0.48 per share in 2008.

"Mark is a tremendous leader with a results-driven focus -- from safety and environmental stewardship to business strategy and financial performance -- that has yielded benefits for all of our stakeholders," said Dr. Gottwald. "The Board is delighted that Mark will continue to lead Albemarle in this expanded capacity, and looks forward to the company's continued success."

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics; petroleum and petrochemical processing; transportation and industrial products; pharmaceuticals; agricultural products; and construction and packaging materials. The Company operates in three business segments -- Polymer Additives, Catalysts and Fine Chemicals, and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Learn more about Albemarle at www.albemarle.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.