Bellevue, Washington, October 21, 1998 -- Penford Corporation announced today that John C. Hunter, President and Chief Operating Officer of Solutia Inc. has been nominated to Penfordís Board of Directors pending election by Penfordís shareholders at its 1998 Annual Meeting, expected to be held in January 1999.

ìJohn Hunter has extensive experience in the specialty chemicals industry, and we regard his interest in joining Penford as an important affirmation of the progress we have made toward becoming a top-tier carbohydrate based specialty chemical company,î said Stewart Rogers, Chairman of Penfordís Board of Directors. ìWe are very pleased to welcome John to the Penford Board and look forward to working with him.î

Solutia Inc., spun off from Monsanto Company in 1997, is an international producer and marketer of a range of high performance chemical-based materials that are used by its customers to make consumer, household, automotive and industrial products. The companyís 1997 sales totaled approximately $3 billion.

Prior to becoming President and Chief Operating Officer of Solutia, Mr. Hunter was President, Fibers, of Monsanto Company. He joined Monsanto in 1969 and advanced through the ranks to his current post, which he assumed in 1997.

Born March 1, 1947 in LaGrange, Georgia, Mr. Hunter graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1969 with a B.S. degree in chemical engineering and from the University of Houston at Clear Lake City in 1977 with an MBA degree. From 1970 to 1972 he served in the United States Army, achieving the rank of Lieutenant in the Chemical Corps.