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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                                 CERTIFICATIONS

I, Thomas M. Duff, Chief Executive Officer of Wellman, Inc., certify that:

1.    I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Wellman, Inc.;

2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
      of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
      statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
      were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
      report;

3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
      information included in this report, fairly present in all material
      respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of
      the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.    The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
      establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
      defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant
      and have:

      a)    Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
            disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
            supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
            registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
            to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
            period in which this report is being prepared;

      b)    Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
            and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about
            the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of
            the end of the period covered by this report based on such
            evaluation; and

      c)    Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
            control over financial reporting that occurred during the
            registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially
            affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
            registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

5.    The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based
      on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
      reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
      registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
      functions):

      a)    All significant deficiencies and deficiencies and material
            weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls over
            financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
            the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
            financial information; and

      b)    Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
            internal controls over financial reporting.

Date March 15, 2004                      By: /s/Thomas M. Duff
                                             ----------------------------------
                                             Chief Executive Officer