MONSANTO NAMES WINNERS OF EDGAR M. QUEENY AWARD

ST. LOUIS  (Jan. 9, 2002) - Monsanto Company has named five recipients of this year's Edgar M. Queeny Award for science and technology.  These scientists were the key individuals responsible for the discovery, development, and successful implementation of a new catalyst technology for the manufacture of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup Herbicide.
	The  2001 Queeny Award recipients are: Dr. Jerry R. Ebner, Mr. Mark Leiber, Dr. Jingyue Liu, Dr. Peter E. Rogers, and Dr. Kam To Wan.
	Dr. Jingyue Liu contributed his extraordinary skills in microscopy and surface science to provide essential information that enabled development of the technology.  In addition, Dr. Liu was the first to recognize important characteristics of the catalyst and relentlessly pursued detailed spectroscopic characterization to quantify his observations. This work spurred the development of new catalyst compositions that ultimately established the standard for manufacturing performance. 
	Dr. Wan is a co-inventor on several of the new catalyst patent applications and was instrumental in the development of synthetic methods for the preparation of novel compositions by providing a detailed fundamental understanding of the surface chemistry of the catalyst supports.    These contributions provided important insight    into the development of enabling technology that allowed for the preparation of commercially viable catalysts. 
	Each of the Queeny Award winners will receive a gold medallion and a cash prize at an awards banquet held in their honor.  The Queeny Award is named after former Monsanto chairman and president, Edgar M. Queeny.
	The Queeny Award was established in 1980 to recognize the development of significant and unique proprietary technology that has resulted in a commercial success, or in a product or process where the potential for commercial success can be clearly identified.  The award may be given annually. 
	The catalyst technology for which the team is being honored, represents a fundamental breakthrough that has allowed for significant increases in manufacturing capacity with minimal new construction, greater efficiency and less environmental impact.  The new technology has made it possible to increase glyphosate manufacturing capacity to meet increasing worldwide demand for Roundup Herbicide, while minimizing the amount of energy and water utilized, and, the amount of waste generated in the commercial production process.  
	In describing the accomplishment, Dr. Robert Fraley, Monsanto executive vice president and chief technology officer, praised the group of recipients for their exceptional efforts.  "This novel catalyst technology became a commercial reality through numerous scientific breakthroughs that resulted from the extraordinary technical skill, innovation, careful experimentation, keen observation, and tireless dedication of the nominees." 
	The value of this technology is readily quantifiable.  The new catalysts have helped avoid the investment of millions of dollars of capital for new manufacturing plants and have saved millions of dollars in operating costs.  It has also significantly benefited the environment by minimizing the amount of carbon dioxide that would have been emitted to the atmosphere by nearly 100 million pounds per year, by dramatically reducing the energy requirements to produce glyphosate and by substantially reducing the amount of waste that would have been created.  Lastly, the new technology establishes a platform making possible the development of future process technology improvements that will yield additional benefits.