Dow Chemical Company

History

Early history

Dow was founded in 1897 by chemist Herbert Henry Dow, who invented a new method of extracting the bromine that was trapped underground in brine at Midland, Michigan. The company originally sold only bleach and potassium bromide, achieving a bleach output of 72 tons a day in 1902. Early in the company's history, a group of British manufacturers tried to drive Dow out of the bleach business by cutting prices. Dow survived by also cutting its prices and, although losing about $90,000 in income, began to diversify its product line.

In 1905, German bromide producers began dumping bromides at low cost in the U.S. in an effort to prevent Dow from expanding its sales of bromides in Europe. Instead of competing directly for market share with the German producers, Dow bought the cheap German-made bromides and shipped them back to Europe. This undercut his German competitors. Even in its early history, Dow set a tradition of rapidly diversifying its product line. Within twenty years, Dow had become a major producer of agricultural chemicals, elemental chlorine, phenol and other dyestuffs, and magnesium metal. Dow hired Charles J. Strosacker, another Case alumni, in 1907.

During World War I, Dow supplied many war materials that the United States had previously imported from Germany. Dow produced magnesium for incendiary flares, monochlorobenzene and phenol for explosives, and bromine for medicines and tear gas. By 1918, 90 percent of Dow's production was geared towards the war effort. At this time, Dow created the diamond logo that is still used by the company. After the war, Dow continued research in magnesium, and it developed refined automobile pistons that produced more speed and better fuel efficiency. The Dowmetal pistons were used heavily in racing vehicles, and the 1921 winner of the Indianapolis 500 used the Dowmetal pistons in his vehicle.

H. H. Dow died October 15, 1930, from cirrhosis of the liver while receiving treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He had personally received over 90 patents and was awarded the Perkin Medal the January before his death.

Diversification and expansion

Willard Dow was born in 1897, the year his father founded Dow Chemical. He was the oldest boy and his father required him to work in every department at the Midland plant to expand his knowledge of the company. In 1922, Willard was named a company director and became general manager of the Dow plant in 1926. When his father died, Willard was just 33, but he proved himself capable of successfully operating the company. Strosacker was appointed to Dow's board of directors.

Dow invested heavily in research and development during the Great Depression.

In the 1930s, Dow began producing plastic resins, which would grow to become one of the corporation's major businesses. Its first plastic products were ethylcellulose, made in 1935, and polystyrene, made in 1937.

In just eight months from 1940 to 1941, Dow built its first plant in Freeport, Texas, to produce magnesium extracted from seawater rather than underground brine. The Freeport plant is Dow's largest site, and the largest integrated chemical manufacturing site in the country. The site grew quickly – with power, chlorine, caustic soda and ethylene also soon in production. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December, the plant was the primary source of magnesium in the United States.

After the attack, the U.S. government asked Dow to step up its magnesium production. Dow doubled its capacity in Freeport, built a second plant in Velasco, Texas, and added two new plants on the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron in Michigan. In 1942, a critical year in gaining air supremacy over Europe, Dow-operated plants produced 84 percent of the nation's magnesium output.

Magnesium was required to manufacture lightweight parts for aircraft.

Growth of this business made Dow a strategic company during World War II.

When the second world war began, access to natural rubber was essentially terminated. Polybutadiene was the synthetic rubber selected for use by the federal government. The product is made from Butadiene and Styrene. Dow was the only styrene producer in the United States.

Post War

Carl Gerstacker was discharged from the Army in 1946 as a Major and returned to Dow in Midland. He was a production engineer before the war, but his military service provided experience in problem solving and managing the finances and operations of numerous facilities producing war material. He shifted to finance and accounting and ascended the corporate ladder quickly. He was added to

Dow's board of directors in 1948

Dow President and CEO Willard Dow died in an airplane crash on March 31, 1949. Leland Doan was named Dow president; Earl Bennett, father-in-law of Willard's brother (Alden B. Dow) became board chairman; general manager was Dr. Mark Putnam; Calvin Campbell was named secretary and Carl Gerstacker was selected as treasurer.

When Leland Doan became president of Dow in 1949, the world was evolving rapidly. One of Doan's first tasks was to reorganize the company and oversee its diversification and expansion. As war production changed to a normal economy, residential construction boomed. In 1960, almost two-thirds of Americans owned their homes. As the consumer economy grew, so did the demand for household products. Dow had always sold products to other companies but recognized an opportunity and quickly developed a catalog of products for consumer use.

Doan created Dow's biggest product diversification and expanded their markets. Department heads were given more authority, and he expanded his sales force and trained them to analyze their markets and the production process. A news release announced $25 million for expansion into plastic products. New facilities were planned for 1951 with a $100 million budget.

Gerstacker was named vice-president in 1955 and joined Dow's executive committee the following year. He was named chairman of the board in 1960.

Leland Doan reached Dow's mandatory retirement age in 1962 and stepped down. During his 13 years at the helm, employment at Dow more than doubled to 31,000 from 14,000, and sales soared to $890 million from $200 million.

Ted Doan rapidly climbed the company ladder and followed his father, becoming president when he was 40 years old.

Nuclear weapons

From 1951 to 1975, Dow managed the Rocky Flats Plant near Denver, Colorado. Rocky Flats was a nuclear weapons production facility that produced plutonium triggers for hydrogen bombs.

Contamination from fires and radioactive waste leakage plagued the facility under Dow's management. In 1957 a fire burned plutonium dust in the facility and sent radioactive particles into the atmosphere.

The Department of Energy transferred management of the facility to Rockwell International in 1975. In 1990, nearby residents filed a class action lawsuit against Dow and Rockwell for environmental contamination of the area; the case was settled in 2017 for $375 million. According to the Appellate Court, the owners of the 12,000 properties in the class-action area had not proved that their properties were damaged or they had suffered bodily injury.

Vietnam War: napalm and Agent Orange

The United States military used napalm bombs during the Vietnam War until 1973. Dow was one of several manufacturers who began producing the napalm B compound under government contract from 1965. After experiencing protests and negative publicity, the other suppliers discontinued manufacturing the product, leaving Dow as the sole provider. The company said that it carefully considered its position, and decided, as a matter of principle, "its first obligation was to the government". Despite a boycott of its products by anti-war groups and harassment of recruiters on some college campuses, Dow continued to manufacture napalm B until 1969.

Agent Orange, a chemical defoliant containing dioxin, was also manufactured by Dow in Terneuzen The Netherlands, New Plymouth New Zealand, and Midland, Michigan, in the United States for use by the British military during the Malayan Emergency and the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. In 2005, a lawsuit was filed by Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange against Dow and Monsanto Co., which also supplied Agent Orange to the military. The lawsuit was dismissed. In 2012, Monsanto agreed to a $93 million settlement as a result of a case pursued by ex-Monsanto employees and citizens in the city of Nitro, WV. In 1949, a chemical plant in Nitro experienced an explosion that damaged a tank containing 2,4,5-T, one of the composites that is used in the production of Agent Orange. The settlement of the case included $9 million for the cleanup of affected homes in the area, and $84 million to cover the medical monitoring and treatment of people affected by the explosion, as well as legal costs for the claimants. No care has been given for the in state damage done by the Headquarters in Midland, Michigan, and they refuse to give the evidence to the community.

Dow Corning breast implants

A major manufacturer of silicone breast implants, Dow Corning (Dow Chemical's Joint Venture with Corning Inc.) was sued for personal damages caused by ruptured implants. On 6 October 2005, all such cases pending in the District Court against the company were dismissed. A number of large, independent reviews of the scientific literature, including the Institute of Medicine in the United States, have subsequently found that silicone breast implants do not cause breast cancers or any identifiable systemic disease.

Bhopal disaster

The Bhopal disaster occurred at a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide India Ltd., a subsidiary of Union Carbide, in 1984. A gas cloud containing methyl isocyanate and other chemicals spread to the neighborhoods near the plant where more than half a million people lived. The government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed 3,787 deaths related to the gas release. The leak caused 558,125 injuries, including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries. Union Carbide was sued by the Government of India and agreed to an out-of-court settlement of US$470 million in 1989. Dow Chemical acquired Union Carbide in 2001. Activists want Dow Chemical to clean up the site which is now controlled by the state of Madhya Pradesh.

DBCP

Until the late 1970s, Dow produced DBCP (1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane), a soil fumigant, and nematicide, sold under the names the Nemagon and Fumazone. Plantation workers who alleged that they were sterilized or suffered other afflictions subsequently sued both Dow and Dole Foods in Latin American courts. The cases were marred by extensive fraud, including the falsification of test results and the recruitment of plaintiffs who had never worked at Dole plantations. While Nicaraguan courts awarded the plaintiffs over $600 million for damages, they have been unable to collect any payment from the defendants. A group of plaintiffs then sued in the United States, and, on 5 November 2007, they were awarded $3.2 million by a jury in Los Angeles. Dole and Dow vowed to appeal the decision. On 23 April 2009 the two cases against Dole and Dow were thrown out by a judge in Los Angeles due to fraud and extortion by lawyers in Nicaragua recruiting fraudulent plaintiffs to make claims against the company. The ruling casts doubt on $2 billion in judgments in similar lawsuits.

Tax evasion

In February 2013 a federal court rejected two tax shelter transactions entered into by Dow that created approximately $1 billion in tax deductions between 1993 and 2003. The court wrote that the transactions were "schemes that were designed to exploit perceived weaknesses in the tax code and not designed for legitimate business reasons". The schemes were created by Goldman Sachs and the law firm of King & Spalding, and involved creating a partnership that Dow operated out of its European headquarters in Switzerland. Dow stated that it had paid all tax assessments with interest. The case was against the Internal Revenue Service seeking a refund of the taxes paid. The case was appealed to the 5th Circuit court, where Dow's claims were again rejected. Dow has petitioned for an en banc hearing by the 5th Circuit, arguing that the decision was contrary to established case law.

Price fixing

Dow Chemical was implicated in a price-fixing scheme that inflated the cost of polyurethane for customers. The U.S. Justice Department closed an investigation in 2007 without charges or recommendations, but a class-action civil lawsuit won at a jury trial in 2013. Dow settled the suit in 2016 for $835 million.

Recent mergers, acquisitions and reorganization

In the early 1990s, Dow embarked on a major structural reorganization. The former reporting hierarchy was geographically based, with the regional president reporting directly to the overall company president and CEO. The new organization combines the same businesses from different sites, irrespective of which region they belong (i.e. the vice president for Polystyrene is now in charge of these plants all over the world).

In October 1997, S. C. Johnson & Son announced that they would buy Dow Chemical's DowBrands consumer products division, based in Indianapolis. The two business units included Home Food Management with Ziploc, Saran and Handi-Wrap; Home Care Products Fantastik, Scrubbing Bubbles and Spray'N Wash. The transcition was completed on January 23, 1998, with $1.1 billion. The sale reflected a shift in Dow's business focus by concentrating on specialty and industrial materials.

At the beginning of August 1999, Dow agreed to purchase Union Carbide Corp. (UCC) for $9.3 billion in stock. At the time, the combined company was the second largest chemical company, behind DuPont. This led to protests from some stockholders, who feared that Dow did not disclose potential liabilities related to the Bhopal disaster.

William S. Stavropoulos served as president and chief executive officer of Dow from 1995 to 2000, then again from 2002 to 2004. He relinquished his board seat on 1 April 2006, having been a director since 1990 and chairman since 2000. During his first tenure, he led the purchase of UCC, which proved controversial, as it was blamed for poor results under his successor as chief executive officer, Mike Parker. Parker was dismissed and Stavropoulos returned from retirement to lead Dow.

On 31 August 2006, Dow announced that it planned to close facilities at five locations:

Sarnia, Ontario was Dow's first manufacturing site in Canada, located in the Chemical Valley area alongside other petrochemical companies. In 1942, the Canadian government invited Dow to build a plant there to produce styrene (an essential raw material used to make synthetic rubber for World War II). Dow then built a polystyrene plant in 1947. In August 1985, the site accidentally discharged 11,000 litres of perchloroethylene (a dry cleaning solvent) into the St. Clair River, which gained infamy in the media as "The Blob", and Dow Canada was charged by the Ministry of the Environment. Up to the early 1990s, Dow Canada's headquarters was located at the Modeland Centre, and a new three-story complex called the River Centre was opened up on the Sarnia site in 1993 to house Research and Development. Since then, several plants (Dow terminology for a production unit) on the site have been dismantled, particularly the Basic Chemicals including Chlor Alkali unit whose closure was announced in 1991 and carried out in 1994 which affected nearly half of the site's employees. The Dow Canada headquarters were moved to Calgary, Alberta in 1996, and the Modeland Centre was sold to Lambton County and the City of Sarnia with Dow leasing some office space. The Dow Fitness Centre was donated to the YMCA of Sarnia-Lambton in 2003. The Sarnia Site's workforce declined from a peak of 1600 personnel in the early 1990s to about 400 by 2002. In the late 1990s, land on the site was sold to TransAlta which built a natural gas power plant that begun operations in 2002 to supply electricity to the remaining Sarnia site plants and facilities, so that Dow could close its older less efficient steam plant (originally coal fired and later burning natural gas). On 31 August 2006, Dow announced that the entire Sarnia site would cease operations at the end of 2008. The Sarnia site received their ethylene from a western Canada pipeline but BP representatives advised Dow that the pipeline supply should be suspended for safety, and the loss of an affordable supply for the low density polyethylene plant rendered the remaining plant operations non-competitive. The Low-Density Polyethylene and Polystyrene units closed in 2006, followed by the Latex Unit in 2008, and finally the Propylene Oxide Derivatives Unit in April 2009. Dow afterward focused its efforts on the environmental remediation of the vacant site, which was sold to TransAlta. The former site has since been renamed the Bluewater Energy Park, with the River Centre remaining available for lease.

Focus on higher margin business

Dow Chemical has begun to shed commodity chemical businesses, such as those making the basic ingredients for grocery bags and plastic pipes, because their profit margins are relatively low. Dow is, as of 2015, focusing its resources on specialty chemicals that earn profit margins of at least 20%.

Dioxin contamination

Areas along Michigan's Tittabawassee River, which runs within yards of Dow's main plant in Midland, were found to contain elevated levels of the cancer-causing chemical dioxin in November 2006. The dioxin was located in sediments two to ten feet below the surface of the river, and, according to The New York Times, "there is no indication that residents or workers in the area are directly exposed to the sites". However, people who often eat fish from the river had slightly elevated levels of dioxin in their blood. In July 2007, Dow reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to remove 50,000 cubic yards (38,000 m3) of sediment from three areas of the riverbed and levees of the river that had been found to be contaminated. In November 2008, Dow Chemical along with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality agreed to establish a Superfund to address dioxin cleanup of the Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay.

Sale of herbicide business

In December 2015, Dow Chemicals agreed to sell part of its global herbicide business, which had reported falling sales for nearly a year. A portfolio of weed killers known as dinitroanilines was sold to privately held Gowan Company, a family owned company located in Yuma, Arizona, which markets a variety of pesticides to the agricultural and horticultural industries. The global trademarks for Treflan (pesticide), which can be sprayed on field corn, cotton and some fruit and vegetables, were included in the sale, as well as a formulation and packaging facility in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada. Edge (pesticide), Team (pesticide), Bonalan (pesticide) and Sonalan (pesticide), intellectual property and labels for herbicides based on the molecules trifluralin, benfluralin and ethalfluralin were also included in the sale. Annual grasses and small seeded broadleaf weeds can be controlled with these products in a wide range of crops including cotton, beans, canola, cereals, crucifers, cucurbits, and vegetables. Dinitroanilines, are also known as "DNA herbicides", and have been commercialised at least since 1970.

2020s

In April 2026, the company announced the appointment of Karen Carter as its new CEO from July 1, 2026, succeeding Jim Fitterling who became executive chairman. Carter then became one of the three Black women CEOs leading a Fortune 500 company.

Products

Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber. It is also a major producer of ethylene oxide, various acrylates, surfactants, and cellulose resins. It produces agricultural chemicals including the pesticide Lorsban and consumer products including Styrofoam. Some Dow consumer products, including Saran wrap, Ziploc bags, and Scrubbing Bubbles were sold to S. C. Johnson & Son in 1997.

Performance plastics

Performance plastics make up 25% of Dow's sales, with many products designed for the automotive and construction industries. The plastics include polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, as well as polystyrene used to produce Styrofoam insulating material. Dow manufactures epoxy resin intermediates including bisphenol A and epichlorohydrin. Saran resins and films are based on polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC).

Performance chemicals

The Performance Chemicals (17 percent of sales) segment produces chemicals and materials for water purification, pharmaceuticals, paper coatings, paints and advanced electronics. Major product lines include nitroparaffins, such as nitromethane, used in the pharmaceutical industry and manufactured by Angus Chemical Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Co. Important polymers include Dowex ion-exchange resins, acrylic and polystyrene latex, as well as Carbowax polyethylene glycols. Specialty chemicals are used as starting materials for production of agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Water purification

Dow Water and Process Solutions (DW&PS) is a business unit which manufactures Filmtec reverse osmosis membranes which are used to purify water for human use in the Middle East. The technology was used during the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics. The DW&PS business unit remained with DowDuPont following the April 2019 spin-off.

Agricultural sciences

Until June 2019, Dow AgroSciences produced a range of insecticides (such as Lorsban), herbicides and fungicides, and also sold seed for genetically modified plants. Dow AgroSciences sold seeds commercially under the following brands: Mycogen (grain corn, silage corn, sunflowers, alfalfa, and sorghum), Atlas (soybean), PhytoGen (cotton) and Hyland Seeds in Canada (corn, soybean, alfalfa, navy beans and wheat). The Dow AgroSciences business unit was spun off into Corteva Inc, in June 2019.

Basic plastics

Basic plastics (26 percent of sales) end up in everything from diaper liners to beverage bottles and oil tanks. Products are based on the three major polyolefins – polystyrene (such as Styron resins), polyethylene and polypropylene.

Basic chemicals

Basic chemicals (12 percent of sales) are used internally by Dow as raw materials and are also sold worldwide. Markets include dry cleaning, paints and coatings, snow and ice control and the food industry. Major products include ethylene glycol, caustic soda, chlorine, and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM, for making PVC). Ethylene oxide and propylene oxide and the derived alcohols ethylene glycol and propylene glycol are major feedstocks for the manufacture of plastics such as polyurethane and PET.

Hydrocarbons and energy

The Hydrocarbons and Energy operating segment (13 percent of sales) oversees energy management at Dow. Fuels and oil-based raw materials are also procured. Major feedstocks for Dow are provided by this group, including ethylene, propylene, 1,3-butadiene, benzene and styrene.

Hand sanitizer

In March 2020, during the Coronavirus outbreak, Dow expanded its European hand sanitizer production, providing the product free to hospitals.

Finances

For the fiscal year 2023, Dow Chemicals reported earnings of US$0.6 billion, with an annual revenue of US$44.9 billion. Dow Chemicals shares traded at over $67 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$121.1 billion in September 2018.

Environmental record

In 2003, Dow agreed to pay $2 million, the largest penalty ever in a pesticide case, to the state of New York for making illegal safety claims related to its pesticides. The New York Attorney General's Office stated that Dow AgroSciences had violated a 1994 agreement with the State of New York to stop advertisements making safety claims about its pesticide products. Dow stated that it was not admitting to any wrongdoing, and that it was agreeing to the settlement to avoid a costly court battle.

From 2019 to 2023, Dow's chemical plants had multiple unauthorised pollutant releases, including in Louisiana, United States, and The Netherlands, where independent journalists found the rivers were "already heavily polluted". Some of these releases caused explosions at the plants. After a chemical release due to a rail crash involving Dow rail cars, the rail operator was held solely liable for the pollutant cleanup.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dow has some responsibility for 96 of the United States' Superfund toxic waste sites. One of these, a former UCC uranium and vanadium processing facility near Uravan, Colorado, is listed as the sole responsibility of Dow. The rest are shared with numerous other companies. Fifteen sites have been listed by the EPA as finalized (cleaned up) and 69 are listed as "construction complete", meaning that all required plans and equipment for cleanup are in place.

In 2022, Dow was the top water polluter and 12th highest air polluter in the US, weighted by population toxic exposure, by the University of Massachusetts. In 2023, Dow was the 33rd highest carbon greenhouse polluter in the US, having produced 0.2% of total greenhouse emissions.

In 2007, the chemical industry trade association – the American Chemical Council – gave Dow an award of 'Exceptional Merit' in recognition of longstanding energy efficiency and conservation efforts. Between 1995 and 2005, Dow reduced energy intensity (BTU per pound produced) by 22 percent. This is equivalent to saving enough electricity to power eight million US homes for a year. The same year, Dow subsidiary, Dow Agrosciences, won a United Nations Montreal Protocol Innovators Award for its efforts in helping replace methyl bromide – a compound identified as contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer. In addition, Dow Agrosciences won an EPA "Best of the Best" Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) named Dow as a 2008 Energy Star Partner of the Year for excellence in energy management and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Carbon footprint

Dow Chemical Company reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 33,100 Kt (+700/+2.2% y-o-y) and plans to reduce emissions 15% by 2030 from a 2019 base year.

Leadership

Board of Directors

The final board of directors of The Dow Chemical Co. were, prior to the closing of the merger with DuPont on 1 September 2017:

Ajay Banga – former president and CEO, MasterCard

Jacqueline Barton – chemistry professor, California Institute of Technology

James A. Bell – former president and CFO, Boeing

Richard K. Davis – chairman of the board and chief executive officer of U.S. Bancorp

Jeff Fettig – chairman and CEO, Whirlpool Corp.

Jim Fitterling – chairman and CEO, Dow Inc.

Andrew N. Liveris – former chairman and CEO, The Dow Chemical Co.

Mark Loughridge – former chief financial officer, IBM

Raymond J. Milchovich – lead director of Nucor and former chairman and CEO of Foster Wheeler AG

Robert S. (Steve) Miller – International Automotive Components (IAC) Group

Paul Polman – CEO Unilever PLC and Unilever

Dennis H. Reilley – former chairman Covidien Ltd.

James Ringler – vice chairman, Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Ruth G. Shaw – former president and CEO, Duke Energy Corp.

The ten members of the board of directors of today's iteration of Dow are:

Presidents

Herbert Henry Dow 1897–1930

Willard H. Dow 1930–1949

Leland Doan 1949–1962

Ted Doan 1962–1971

Ben Branch 1971–1976

Zoltan Merszei 1977–1978

Paul F. Oreffice 1979–1987

Frank Popoff 1987–1995

William S. Stavropoulos 1995–2000

Mike Parker 2000–2002

William S. Stavropoulos 2002–2004

Andrew N. Liveris 2004–2018

Jim Fitterling 2018–2026

Major sponsorships

In July 2010, Dow became a worldwide partner of the Olympic Games. The sponsorship extended until 2020.

In September 2004, Dow obtained the naming rights to the Saginaw County Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan; the center is now called the Dow Event Center. The Saginaw Spirit (of the Ontario Hockey League) plays at the center, which also hosts events such as professional wrestling, live theater, and concerts.

In October 2006, Dow bought the naming rights to the stadium used by the Great Lakes Loons, a Single-A minor league baseball team located in its hometown of Midland, Michigan. The stadium is called Dow Diamond. The Dow Foundation played a key role in bringing the Loons to the city.

In 2010, Dow signed a $100m (£63m) 10-year deal with the International Olympic Committee and agreed to sponsor the £7m Olympic Stadium wrap.

Since 2014 Dow also sponsors Austin Dillon's #3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Major collaborations

Lab Safety Academy

On 20 May 2013, Dow launched the Dow Lab Safety Academy, a website that includes a large collection of informational videos and resources that demonstrate best practices in laboratory safety. The goal of the website is to improve awareness of safety practices in academic research laboratories and to help the future chemical workforce develop a safety mindset. As such, the Dow Lab Safety Academy is primarily geared toward university students. However, Dow has made the content open to all, including those already employed in the chemical industry. The Dow Lab Safety Academy is also available through the Safety and Chemical Engineering Education program, an affiliate of American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE); and The Campbell Institute, an organization focusing on environment, health and safety practices.

The Dow Lab Safety Academy is one component of Dow's larger laboratory safety initiative launched in early 2012, following a report from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board that highlighted the potential hazards associated with conducting research at chemical laboratories in academic institutions. Seeking to share industry best practices with academia, Dow partnered with several U.S. research universities to improve safety awareness and practices in the departments of chemistry, chemical engineering, engineering and materials. Through the pilot programs with U.C. Santa Barbara (UCSB), University of Minnesota, and Pennsylvania State University, Dow worked with graduate students and faculty to identify areas of improvement and develop a culture of laboratory safety.

Nature conservancy

In January 2011, The Nature Conservancy and The Dow Chemical Co. announced a collaboration to integrate the value of nature into business decision-making. Scientists, engineers, and economists from The Nature Conservancy and Dow are working together at three pilot sites (North America, Latin America, and TBD) to implement and refine models that support corporate decision-making related to the value and resources nature provides. Those ecosystem services include water, land, air, oceans and a variety of plant and animal life. These sites will serve as a “living laboratories”, to validate and test methods and models so they can be used to inform more sustainable business decisions at Dow and hopefully influence the decision-making and business practices of other companies.

Part-owned companies

Companies part-owned by Dow include:

EQUATE Petrochemical Co. K.S.C.C.

The Kuwait Olefins Company K.S.C.C.

The Kuwait Styrene Company K.S.C.C.

Map Ta Phut Olefins Company Limited

SCG-DOW Group

Sadara Chemical Company

Dow Toray Co., Ltd. (joint venture with Toray Industries)

Notable employees

George Becker, former vice president of the AFL–CIO, and president of the United Steelworkers; worked at Dow's aluminum rolling mill in Madison, Illinois, where he was a shop steward.

Buddy Burris, professional football player with the Green Bay Packers; worked for Dow following his football career.

Norman F. Carnahan, chemical engineer; worked at Dow's Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana division from 1965 to 1968.

Sven Trygve Falck, Norwegian engineer, businessperson and politician; Dow engineer in Texas from 1967 to 1970.

Larry Garner, Louisiana blues musician; worked at Dow's Baton Rouge, Louisiana facility.

Bettye Washington Greene, first African-American female chemist employed at Dow; began working in 1965 at the E.C. Britton Lab.

Alexandre Hohagen, vice president for Latin America and US Hispanics at Facebook; former public relations manager for Dow Chemical Brazil.

Zdravko Ježić, Olympic silver medalist; worked for Dow in Texas on the development of urethane and oxide polymers.

Claude-André Lachance, youngest person elected to the House of Commons of Canada (prior to 2011); director of public affairs for Dow Canada.

Ray McIntire, inventor of Styrofoam; began working for Dow in 1940 and became a research director.

Fred McLafferty, chemist who pioneered the technique of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; began working at Dow's organic chemistry research laboratory in Midland, Michigan in the 1950s.