Westlake Chemical Corp.

Mr. Chao has been our President since May 1996 and a director since June 2003. Mr. Chao has over 30 years of international experience in the chemical industry. In 1985, Mr. Chao assisted his father T.T. Chao and his brother James Chao in founding us, where he served as Executive Vice President until he succeeded James as President. He has held positions in the Controller’s Group of Mobil Oil Corporation, in the Technical Department of Hercules Incorporated, in the Plastics Group of Gulf Oil Corporation and has served as Assistant to the Chairman of China General Plastics Group and Deputy Managing Director of a plastics fabrication business in Singapore. He is also a director of Titan Chemicals Corp. Bhd. Mr. Chao received a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. Mr. Chao is a trustee emeritus of Rice University.

Dr. Gilbert R. Whitaker, Jr. is Professor of Business Economics at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management of Rice University, Houston, Texas, and Senior Advisor to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Prior to his retirement, he served as Dean and H. Joe Nelson III Professor of Business Economics at the Jones Graduate School from July 1, 1997 to June 30, 2005. During his tenure as Dean the Jones School became fully accredited by the AACSB. Through his aggressive recruiting efforts, faculty grew and enrollment increased in both the full-time MBA and the MBA for Executives programs. He was the driving force behind the conception, design, funding, and building of the 167,000 square foot award-winning Janice and Robert McNair Hall, which is now the home of the Jones Graduate School. Prior to coming to the Jones School in 1997, Dr. Whitaker was Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan from September 1990 through August 1995. Beginning in 1979 he served as Dean and Professor of Business Economics at the University of Michigan School of Business Administration for over eleven years. Dr. Whitaker was Dean and Professor of Business Economics at the M.J. Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University from 1976 to 1978, and Associate Dean and Professor of Business Economics at the Graduate School of Business of Washington University in St. Louis from 1966 to 1976. A native of Oklahoma, he earned a B.A. in economics at Rice University in 1953, an M.S. in Economics at the University of Wisconsin in 1958, and a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Wisconsin in 1961. His academic specialty is Managerial Economics, and he is co-author of Business Economics: Principles and Cases, a leading textbook in the field for more than 20 years. Gil Whitaker has been a leader of a number of professional organizations in management education, as well as being active in community affairs. He has served as Chairman of the Graduate Management Admissions Council, as President of AACSB, and as a board member of the Consortium of Graduate Study in Management, and the Forum for the Future of Higher Education. He currently serves as a director on the boards of the Alley Theatre and Westlake Chemical Corporation. He previously served on the boards of Comerica (1980 1996), Lincoln National Corporation (1986 2002), Johnson Controls, Inc. (1986 2001), Structural Dynamics Research Corporation (1986 2001), JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization serving the library community (1995 2002), and the Handleman Company (1989 1998).

William Barnett was managing partner of the law firm Baker Botts, LLP from 1984 to 1998. Baker Botts is an international law firm with approximately 800 lawyers and a worldwide network of offices. As managing partner, Mr. Barnett was responsible for day-to-day management as well as strategic growth of the firm. He is a member of the board of directors of Enterprise Products GP, LLC and Westlake Chemical Corporation. Mr. Barnett also serves as a director on numerous educational, health care and community boards, including St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, the Houston Zoo and the Greater Houston Partnership. He also serves as chair of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. From 1996 to 2005, Mr. Barnett was chairman of the board of trustees of Rice University. In October 2005, Mr. Barnett was honored as "Director of the Year" by the National Association of Corporate Directors.