Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Holds Annual Meeting of Shareholder's

FINDLAY, Ohio, May 8 COOPER TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY on Tuesday conducted its annual meeting of shareholders in which management presented highlights of a successful year and reiterated a positive outlook for continued sales growth, reduced debt and improved operating efficiencies for the remainder of 2002.

Cooper's chairman, president and chief executive officer Thomas A. Dattilo, recounted the highlights of 2001, emphasizing the successful implementation of the Company's strategic plan and post-acquisition restructuring. "Investors are recognizing our accomplishments and our future opportunities and the improvement in our share price is beginning to reflect that," he said.

In the business portion of the meeting, shareholders re-elected Edsel D. Dunford and Dennis J. Gormley to new three-year terms as members of the Board. Also elected to his first three-year term as a director was John F. Fiedler, the chairman and chief executive officer of BorgWarner, Inc. an automotive parts manufacturer headquartered in Chicago. Before he joined BorgWarner in 1994, Mr. Fiedler spent 29 years at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

"John's breadth of experience in the tire and auto parts industries will make him an excellent director for Cooper," Dattilo commented.

The stockholders also approved a new stock option plan for non-employee directors, which will replace a plan approved by stockholders in 1991, and expired after last year's Annual Meeting. The plan authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000 shares of the Company's common stock over its ten-year term.

Following the Annual Meeting, the board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 10.5 cents per share on common stock, payable June 28, 2002, to stockholders of record on June 3, 2002.