Senior Vice President - Communications and Investor Relations
Grainger

Nancy A. Hobor became Senior Vice President, Communications and Investor Relations, in March 2003. She has been responsible for Grainger's internal and external communications, community relations and investor relations since 1999.

Prior to joining Grainger, Ms. Hobor was Vice President, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, for Morton International. She had previously served as Director, Investor Relations, for United Airlines. Before that, Ms. Hobor was Vice President, Strategic Communications, for Baxter Healthcare Corporation; and Vice President, Public Relations, for American Hospital Supply Corporation.

Ms. Hobor received her undergraduate and master's degrees in American history from the University of Chicago. She also received a Ph.D. in American business history from the University of Chicago, where she was a Ford Fellow. Ms. Hobor received her master's degree in business administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Ms. Hobor serves as Adjunct Professor of Investor Relations at Northwestern University. She is a member of the New York Stock Exchange Individual Investor Advisory Committee, the Midwest Young Artists Advisory Committee, and the Visiting Committee of the Division of the Social Sciences for the University of Chicago. She is a former member of the boards of the Chicago Finance Exchange, the National Investor Relations Institute, and the Chicago Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute.

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE: GWW), is the leading broad line supplier of facilities maintenance products in North America. Grainger serves customers through a network of nearly 600 branches, 16 distribution centers, and four Web sites. Sales for 2002 were $4.6 billion. For more information, visit Grainger online at www.grainger.com.