COLUMBUS - John E. Pepper, chairman of Procter & Gamble's board of directors and chairman of the board's executive committee, will be the speaker at The Ohio State University's summer commencement exercises, Aug. 31, 2000.

Approximately 1,400 graduates will receive degrees during the ceremony, which begins at 9:30 a.m. in St. John Arena. Pepper will also receive an honorary doctor of business administration degree from the university.

Prior to his retirement last September, Pepper served as chief executive of the Cincinnati-based consumer goods corporation. Procter & Gamble currently markets 300 brands to five billion consumers in more than 140 countries with ground operations in 70 countries and 110,000 employees worldwide.

A native of Pottsville, Pa., Pepper is a 1960 graduate of Yale University. After service in the U. S. Navy, Pepper joined P&G in 1963. He served as general manager of Procter & Gamble Italia from 1974 to 1978 and was elected group vice president in 1980. In 1984, he was elected to the board of directors and, in 1986, was named president of U.S. business. In 1990, he became president of international business. He was named chief executive and board chairman in 1995.

Pepper is a member of the board of directors of the Xerox Corporation, Motorola Inc. and the Boston Scientific Corporation. He is a fellow of The Yale Corporation, chairman of the United States Advisory Committee for Trade and Policy Negotiations, and has served as chairman of the Ohio Business Roundtable and the Cincinnati United Way Campaign.

Deeply committed to community service, particularly education, Pepper is a member of the Governor's Education and Business Advisory Group and vice chairman of the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative. He also serves on the boards of Partnerships for Drug Free America , the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and is co-chair of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Development Campaign.

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