<PAGE>

                                                                   Exhibit 10.30

              AGREEMENT COVERING NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION AWARD TO
                           THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

THIS AGREEMENT is made and entered into as of the 8th day of May, 2002 by and
between LYDALL, INC., a Delaware corporation, with its principal office in
Manchester, Connecticut (hereinafter called the "Company"), and Roger M.
Widmann, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company (hereinafter
called the "Optionee").

1.   GRANT OF NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION. Subject to the terms and conditions set
     forth herein, the Company grants to the Optionee, effective as of the day
     and year first above written (hereinafter called the "date of grant"), an
     option (hereinafter called the "option") to purchase from the Company, from
     time to time, up to but not exceeding in the aggregate 25,000 shares of the
     Common Stock of the Company to be issued upon the exercise hereof, fully
     paid and nonassessable. The option shall become exercisable as follows:

     (i)  as to one-half of the total number of shares covered by the option,
          i.e., 12,500 shares, on May 8, 2003;

     (ii) as to the remaining one-half of the total number of shares covered by
          the option, i.e., 12,500 shares, on May 8, 2004.

     Shares not purchased on the above dates shall accumulate and remain
     exercisable for the period hereinafter provided. Not withstanding the
     foregoing, (i) the option shall be exercisable as to the total number of
     shares covered by the option, i.e., 25,000 shares, immediately upon the
     occurrence of a "Change in Control of the Company" as defined in Section 7
     of this Agreement (but only if the Optionee does not cease to be the
     Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company prior to such "Change in
     Control of the Company"), and (ii) the Board of Directors of the Company
     may at any time, in its sole discretion, accelerate the time that the
     option or any portion thereof becomes exercisable. The option, to the
     extent then exercisable, shall remain exercisable until the earlier of ten
     (10) years from the date of grant or the expiration of the three (3) year
     period described in Section 5(a) of this Agreement. The option is subject
     to the restriction that it be exercised as set forth in Section 4 of this
     Agreement, and to other terms and conditions as set forth in Section 5 of
     this Agreement.

2.   TYPE OF OPTION. The option is a nonqualified stock option that does not
     qualify for incentive stock option treatment under Section 422 of the
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

3.   OPTION PRICE. The purchase price of each share subject to the option shall
     be $16.08, being 100 percent of the fair market value of the shares subject
     to the option on the date of grant.


<PAGE>

4.   MANNER OF EXERCISE OF OPTION. The option shall be exercised by delivering
     to the Vice President - Investor Relations of the Company, from time to
     time, a signed statement of exercise specifying: (a) the election to
     exercise the "Nonqualified Stock Option", (b) the number of shares elected
     to be purchased, and (c) the date on which the signed statement of exercise
     is delivered to the Company's Vice President - Investor Relations, together
     with cash or a check to the order of the Company for an amount equal to the
     purchase price of such shares. Within ten (10) days after any such exercise
     of the option in whole or in part, the Company shall deliver to the
     Optionee at the principal office of the Company certificates for the number
     of shares with respect to which the option shall be so exercised, issued in
     the Optionee's name, provided that if the stock transfer books of the
     Company are closed for the whole or any part of said ten (10) day period,
     then such period shall be extended accordingly. The exercise of the option
     and the Company's obligation to issue shares hereunder shall also be
     subject to additional terms and conditions as set forth in Section 5 of
     this Agreement

5.   ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

     (a) Cessation of Service as Chairman. If the Optionee ceases to be the
         Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company for any reason, the
         following provisions shall apply:

          (i)  The portion of the option that is exercisable on the date of
               cessation of the Optionee's service as the Chairman of the Board
               of Directors of the Company (including without limitation any
               portion becoming exercisable on that date by reason of a "Change
               in Control of the Company" as defined in Section 7 of this
               Agreement) shall continue to be exercisable in accordance with
               the terms of this Agreement until the earlier of: (A) ten (10)
               years from the date of grant, or (B) three (3) years from the
               date on which the Optionee ceases to be a member of the Board of
               Directors of the Company (whether or not as Chairman and whether
               by reason of death, disability, retirement or other
               circumstance).

          (ii) The portion of the option that is not exercisable on the date of
               cessation of the Optionee's service as a member of the Board of
               Directors of the Company (whether or not as Chairman) as
               described in (i) above shall be forfeited immediately upon such
               cessation of service as a member of the Board of Directors of the
               Company.

     (b) Limitations on Exercise of Option. Any obligation of the Company to
         issue the shares as to which the option is being exercised shall be
         conditioned upon the Company's ability at nominal expense to issue such
         shares in compliance with all applicable statutes, rules or regulations
         of any governmental authority. The Company may secure from the Optionee
         any assurances or agreements which the Company's Board of Directors
         shall reasonably deem necessary or advisable in order that the issuance
         of such shares shall comply with any such statutes, rules or
         regulations.

     If at any time the Company's Board of Directors shall reasonably determine
     that the listing, registration or qualification of the shares subject to
     the option upon any securities exchange or under any state or federal law,
     or that the consent or approval of any government regulatory body, is
     necessary or desirable as a condition of, or in connection with, the
     granting of such option or the

                                      -2-

<PAGE>

     issue or purchase of shares thereunder, such option may not be exercisable
     in whole or in part unless such listing, registration, qualification,
     consent, or approval shall have been effected or obtained free of any
     conditions not acceptable to the Board of Directors.

(c)  Nontransferability. The option shall not be transferable by the Optionee
     otherwise than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and the
     option shall be exercisable, during his lifetime, only by him.

(d)  Stockholder Rights. The Optionee shall not be entitled to any rights as a
     stockholder with respect to any shares subject to the option prior to the
     date of issuance to him of a stock certificate representing such shares.
     The Company shall not be required to deliver any certificate upon the
     exercise of the option until the Company has been furnished with such
     representation or opinion or other document as it may reasonably deem
     necessary to insure compliance with any rule or regulation of the New York
     Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or of any other
     governmental authority having jurisdiction over the Company or the shares
     to be issued upon exercise of the option

(e)  Treasury Shares. The Company shall use shares of Common Stock held by the
     Company as Treasury Shares to satisfy its obligation to issue shares of
     Common Stock of the Company upon exercise of the option.

6.   CAPITAL ADJUSTMENTS AND CORPORATE REORGANIZATIONS.

     (a)  If the outstanding shares of stock of the class then subject to this
          option are increased or decreased, or changed into or exchanged for a
          different number or kind of shares or securities or other forms of
          property (including cash) or rights, as a result of one or more
          reorganizations, recapitalizations, spin-offs, stock splits, reverse
          stock splits, stock dividends or the like, appropriate adjustments
          shall be made in the number and/or kind of shares or securities or
          other forms of property (including cash) or rights for which this
          option may thereafter be exercised, all without any change in the
          aggregate exercise price applicable to the unexercised portion of this
          option, but with a corresponding adjustment in the exercise price per
          share or other unit. No fractional share of stock shall be issued
          under this option or in connection with any such adjustment. Such
          adjustments shall be made by or under authority of the Company's Board
          of Directors whose determinations as to what adjustments shall be
          made, and the extent thereof, shall be final, binding and conclusive.


     (b)  Upon the dissolution or liquidation of the Company, or upon a
          reorganization, merger or consolidation of the Company as a result of
          which the outstanding securities of the class then subject to this
          option are changed into or exchanged for property (including cash),
          rights or securities not of the Company's issue, or any combination
          thereof, or upon a sale of substantially all the property of the
          Company to, or the acquisition of stock representing more than eighty
          percent (80%) of the voting power of the stock of the Company then
          outstanding by, another corporation or person, this option shall
          terminate, unless provision be made in writing in connection with such
          transaction for the

                                      -3-

<PAGE>

         assumption of this option, or the substitution for this option of an
         option covering the stock of a successor employer corporation, or a
         parent or a subsidiary thereof, with appropriate adjustments in
         accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph as to the
         number and kind of shares optioned and their exercise prices, in which
         event this option shall continue in the manner and under the terms so
         provided. If this option shall terminate pursuant to the provisions of
         this paragraph, the optionee or other person then entitled to exercise
         this option shall have the right, at such time prior to the
         consummation of the transaction causing such termination as the Company
         shall designate, to exercise the unexercised portion of this option,
         including the portions thereof which would, but for this paragraph, not
         yet be exercisable.

7.   COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS. Notwithstanding any of the provisions hereof, the
     Optionee agrees for himself and his legal representatives, legatees and
     distributees that the option shall not be exercisable by him or them, and
     that the Company shall not be obligated to issue any shares hereunder, if
     the exercise of said option or the issuance of such shares shall constitute
     a violation by the option holder or the Company of any provision of any law
     or regulation or any governmental authority.

8.   DEFINITION OF CHANGE IN CONTROL. For purposes of this Agreement, a "Change
     in Control of the Company" means (i) an acquisition of the Company by means
     of a merger, consolidation, or purchase of substantially all of its assets
     if and when incident thereto (a) the composition of the Board of Directors
     or its successor changes so that a majority of the Board is not comprised
     of individuals who were members of the Board immediately prior to such
     merger, consolidation or purchase of assets or (b) the stockholders of the
     Company acquire a right to receive, in exchange for or upon surrender of
     their stock, cash or other securities or a combination of the two, or (ii)
     the acquisition by a "Person" (as that term is hereafter defined) of the
     voting rights with respect to 25 percent or more of the outstanding Common
     Stock of the Company if such person was not an officer or director of the
     Company on January 1, 2002. For purposes of this definition, "Person" means
     an individual, corporation, trust or other legal or commercial entity and
     includes two or more persons acting as a partnership, limited partnership,
     syndicate or other group for the purpose of acquiring, holding, or
     disposing of securities of the Company.


9.   NOTICES. Every notice or other communication relating to this Agreement
     shall be in writing, and shall be mailed or delivered to the party for whom
     it is intended at such address as may from time to time be designated by
     such party in a notice mailed or delivered to the other party as herein
     provided; provided that, unless and until some other address be so
     designated, all notices or communications to the Company shall be mailed to
     or delivered to its Vice President - Investor Relations at One Colonial
     Road, P.O. Box 151, Manchester, Connecticut, 06045-0151, and all notices by
     the Company to the Optionee may be given to the Optionee personally or may
     be mailed to him at the last address designated for the Optionee on the
     records of the Company.

                                      -4-

<PAGE>

10.  INTERPRETATION. The determination or the interpretation and construction of
     any provision of this Agreement by the Board of Directors of the Company
     shall be final and conclusive upon all concerned.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, LYDALL, INC. has caused these presents to be executed in its
corporate name and its corporate seal to be hereunto affixed, and the Optionee
has signed on his own behalf as of the day and year first above written.

                                           LYDALL, INC.



                                           /s/  CHRISTOPHER R. SKOMOROWSKI
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           Christopher R. Skomorowski
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer



                                           /s/  ROGER M. WIDMANN
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           Roger M. Widmann
                                           Optionee

                                      -5-