Hiromasa Yonekura

Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., has been selected to recieve the 14th annual Petrochemical Heritage Award on Sunday, 28 March 2010, at the Grand Hyatt in San Antonio, Texas.

The award will be presented at the CHF/NPRA Symposium on Entrpreneurship and Innovation in the Petrochemical Industry, held as part of the 2010 International Petrochemical Conference hosted by the National Petrochemical Refiners Association (NPRA).

Please check back soon for biographical information on Hiromasa Yonekura.

About the Petrochemical Heritage Award
CHF and the Founders Club established the Petrochemical Heritage Award in 1997 to recognize individuals who made outstanding contributions to the petrochemical community; to inspire achievement; and to promote public understanding of the modern sciences, industries, and economies. Past recipients of the award include Mohamed Al-Mady, vice chairman and CEO of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC); Peter R. Huntsman, president and CEO of the Huntsman Company; Dave C. Swalm, founder of Texas Petrochemicals Company; Dan L. Duncan, chairman, Enterprise Products partners; J. Virgil Waggoner, former president and CEO of Sterling Chemicals; Ting Tsung ("T. T.") Chao, founder of the Westlake Chemical Corporation; William A. McMinn, Jr., former president of Cain Chemical; Harold A. Sorgenti, former president and chief executive officer of ARCO Chemical Company; Herbert D. “Ted” Doan, former chairman and CEO of the Dow Chemical Company; Jon M. Huntsman, founder of Huntsman Corporation; Gordon Cain, well-known chemical engineer and business entrepreneur; John T. Files, founder and chairman of the Merichem Company; John R. Hall, chemical engineer and former president, chairman, and CEO of Ashland; and Ralph Landau, cofounder of Halcon/Scientific Design Group.

About the Founders Club
The Founders Club was founded in 1981 by a group of petrochemical industry executives who participated in the establishment of the Petrochemical Committee of the NPRA and ultimately generated the International Petrochemicals Conference (IPC) as a separate identity within NPRA. The Founders Club today is a select group of individuals with a minimum of 25 years of distinguished service in the petrochemical industry. The club proudly advances the legacy inherited from these original "Founders" as contributing stewards of the petrochemical industry with a respect for the past (legacy), activities for the present (networking), and support for the future (recognition).


About the National Petroleum Refiners Association
NPRA was established in 1961 as a result of the merger of the National Petroleum Association and the Western Petroleum Refiners Association. It is the oldest continuing oil-industry association in the United States, dating back to 1902, with the founding of the National Petroleum Association. NPRA represents virtually all refining and petrochemical producers in the United States and has a significant number of non-U.S. companies as members.

About the Chemical Heritage Foundation
The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) fosters an understanding of chemistry’s impact on society. An independent nonprofit organization, we strive to

• Inspire a passion for chemistry;
• Highlight chemistry’s role in meeting current social challenges; and
• Preserve the story of chemistry across centuries.

CHF maintains major collections of instruments, fine art, photographs, papers, and books. We host conferences and lectures, support research, offer fellowships, and produce educational materials. Our museum and public programs explore subjects ranging from alchemy to nanotechnology.