Adhesives Research, Inc. Promotes Karen M. Olson to President and Chief Executive Officer

GLEN ROCK, Pa. - Adhesives Research, Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of custom pressure-sensitive adhesives, coatings, tapes and specialty film products, has promoted Kären M. Olson to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2003. Ms. Olson succeeds Edward L. Daisey, who is retiring from the Company after serving as President and CEO of Adhesives Research for eight years. He will continue to be involved with the Company as a member of its Board of Directors.

Ms. Olson, 42, joined Adhesives Research in November 1992 as the Diagnostic Market Manager for the Medical Business Unit. In this position, she significantly developed and expanded the Company's line of PSA tapes and coated films used for the bonding, laminating and assembly of in-vitro diagnostic devices such as blood coagulation, blood glucose, cholesterol, drugs-of-abuse, ovulation and pregnancy test kits. In August 1994 she was promoted to Medical Market Manager, Western Region, and three years later she was promoted to General Manager of the global Medical Business Unit, then to Vice President and General Manager in May 1999.

In September 2001, she also assumed responsibility for the global Pharmaceutical Business Unit as Vice President and General Manager, leading the unit's penetration into new consumer, cosmetic and personal care markets, which included the construction of a state-of-the-art plant that opened in April 2003 to manufacture custom-designed dissolvable films for the consumer and oral care markets.

Before being recruited from the Los Angeles area to join Adhesives Research, Ms. Olson worked for ICI Resins as a technical sales representative selling products to the industrial coatings, adhesives and graphic arts industries. Prior to that, she was a regional sales manager with Teledyne Analytical Instruments, managing 12 distributors with 52 sales representatives throughout the United States and Canada. Previously, she was also a technical application chemist and worked in quality control for Nalco-Day Glo Color Corporation.

Ms. Olson holds two bachelor's degrees from California Lutheran University, one in chemistry and one in medical technology, and earned her executive MBA from Loyola College (Baltimore, Maryland). She serves on the board of the Pressure-Sensitive Tape Council and is also a board member for various community organizations, including the White Rose Foundation (York, Pa.) and the Loyola College Alumni Association. She has been actively involved with the annual campaigns for the United Way of York County for several years. Ms. Olson lives on the Canton waterfront in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband, Tim Parker, President and CEO of Parker Vanilla Products. In her spare time, she enjoys running, reading, traveling and tennis.

Adhesives Research, Inc. is one of the world's leading independent developers and manufacturers of high-performance, specialty pressure-sensitive adhesive-coated products. Adhesives Research's pressure-sensitive adhesives are used around the world in medical diagnostics and devices, wound care, pharmaceuticals/transdermals and consumer products, as well as other diverse markets such as the electronics, industrial and pulp and paper industries. Adhesives Research, Inc. also operates manufacturing facilities in Ireland, Australia and Colombia, has sales and marketing offices in Great Britain, Germany and Singapore, and sales representation in Taiwan and Japan. Visit the Company's website at www.adhesivesresearch.com.

Adhesives Research® is a registered trademark of Adhesives Research, Inc. for engineering and design services in the field of pressure-sensitive adhesive systems.