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Don Theissen wants environmental leadership that is grounded in science " mn his last 3M management assign- .. ment, as Director of Corporate '..~PrvdiiCt i~2Spvr'isibiiity, LO1L TheiS- sen saw his role as advocating within the company for design and manufac- turing decisions that led to healthy, safe and environmentally sound products. As part of this role, he worked with a number of national and international trade groups developing standards for the long-term safety and environmen- tally responsible use of manufactured products. Theissen, athree-term member of the Freshwater Society's Board of Directors, now sees his mission as help- ing steer the organization toward envi- ronmental leadership that is practical, balanced and grounded in science. Theissen thinks some environmental organizations have extreme agendas and strategies. He wants the Fresh- water Society to be a strong force for protecting the Earth and its water resources, but to recognize and heed the competing needs of human beings for those resources as well. "I would like it to be perceived as an organization recognized for lead- ership in promoting the availability, quality, safety and efficient use of water resources," he said of his vision for the society. Theissen, 73, Iives in Woodbury and has been a member of the Freshwater board since 1999. He currently is the board's secretary and a member of its Executive and Strategic Plan- ning committees. He enthusiastically supported the society's re-vitalization process that led the society in 2007 to hire Gene Merriam as president and commit to a Guardianship Initiative in which an eight-member independent advisory group helped refine and re-direct the society's work. That effort culminated last year in the advisory group giving the board a report, Water Is Life: Protecting A Criti- cal Resource For Future Generations, that identified the critical issues facing water in Minnesota as the sustainability of ground water and the nonpoint pol- lution of surface waters. The board endorsed the report and committed the organization to working on those issues. "I saw the initiative as really the break-through effort for the Freshwater Society to become a consequential orga- nization," Theissen said. His goals for the organization now include helping bring together diverse stakeholders- other environmental groups, lawmak- ers, regulators and representatives of business and industry-on issues related to water. He would like for the society to broaden its membership and activities beyond Minnesota. Theissen grew up in the Hazel Park neighborhood of St. Paul's East Side at a time when 3M was formally titled Min- nesota Mining and Manufacturing and informally referred to as "The Mining." His father worked for the company, mixing glue for the sandpaper that was one of the firm's major products before anyone ever thought of Post-it notes. His father-in-law operated boilers for the company. Theissen attended Cretin High School and then the University of Min- nesota, where he majored in chemistry, graduating in 1958. He immediately began to pursue a doctorate in organic chemistry at the university, and he and his wife, Colleen, had two children while he was in graduate school. They eventually had six more, and they now have 18 grandchildren. He talks proudly of his 53-year marriage. "I met and fell in love with my wife in the eighth grade and never dated anyone else in my Life," he said. While he was in graduate school, Theissen worked 20 hours a week as a lab technician at 3M. After getting the doctorate in 1961, he went to work for 3M full time. Just as he never dated another woman, he never worked for another employer. He worked on a reflective film that 3M developed as a window coating, and he held one of many patents the company received on the product. He later worked on reflective coat- ings for road signs, highway striping and other products. Subsequently, he served as technical director for the Safety and Security Systems and the Adhesives, Coatings and Sealers divi- sions. In the mid-1980s, he was department head of 3M's Structural Products Department, and he later formed and managed the company's Aerospace Materials Department. In 1989 Theissen formed the 3M Corporate Product Responsibility department, and served as its director until his retirement at the end of 1996, after 39 years with the company. FACETS March 2009