(EMAILWIRE.COM, December 15, 2001 ) Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) unveiled a sculptural timepiece on December 14 to celebrate the history of the company and to honor generations of Eastman employees. Located at the Toy F. Reid Employee Center, the sculpture serves two purposes. It captures special moments of Eastman's past, and everyday at noon it becomes a working sundial. This noon-mark sundial, which marks the noon hour each day of the year, is the first in the state of Tennessee.

Employees, retirees, community leaders, artists, teachers, and students were invited to the ceremony to see the sculpture for the first time and then to visit the new Eastman History Room inside the employee center.

"Companies - and their histories - are all about people," said Earnest W. Deavenport, Jr., chairman and CEO. "We wanted to acknowledge the contributions Eastman employees have made throughout the years, and since we were focusing on the passage of time, a sundial became the perfect solution."

The sculpture features images of employees and special events that have occurred during Eastman's 81 years of operation. It is made of bronze powder, polymer resin and fiberglass anchored to a steel frame and was created by Marty Dawe of CherryLion Studios in Atlanta, Ga. Art, math and physics played an important role in the design.

"We hope the Eastman sundial becomes a favorite place for employees and the community to gather and an outdoor classroom for teachers and students," Deavenport said. "And maybe it will encourage others to consider public art as a way to make our region even more unique."

The two history projects are lasting tributes to the contributions of Eastman employees - past, present, and future. "Due to the dedicated men and women of Eastman, we've had a long history of success," said Brian Ferguson, who will become Eastman's chairman and CEO upon Deavenport's retirement at the end of December. "With their help we'll continue to build on that success as we move forward."

With headquarters in Kingsport, Eastman manufactures and markets chemicals, fibers and plastics. The company has approximately 16,500 employees in more than 30 countries and had 2000 sales of $5.3 billion. For more information about Eastman and its products, visit www.eastman.com.

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Produced for Eastman Chemical Company

CONTACT:
Nancy Ledford
Phone: 423-229-5264
nledford@eastman.com

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