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Timken Company Shareholders Elect New Director, Re-elect Others

20 April 1999

Timken Company Shareholders Elect New Director, Re-elect Others

                         John Luke, Jr., Joins Board

    CANTON, Ohio, April 20 -- At The Timken Company's
Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Mr. John A. Luke, Jr. was elected to the board
of directors for a two-year term to expire at the 2001 annual meeting.  Mr.
Luke is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Westvaco
Corporation.  Westvaco produces paper, packaging, specialty chemicals and
forest products.  The company is headquartered in New York.
    Mr. Luke, 50, has served as president and chief executive officer of
Westvaco since 1992 and assumed the additional role of chairman in 1996.
"John is head of a recognized worldwide leader in the manufacture of paper,
packaging and specialty chemicals," said W. R. Timken, Jr., chairman,
president and chief executive officer for Timken.  "He brings to our board a
wealth of knowledge and experience in dealing with the complex issues faced by
international companies, like ours, that are strongly growth-oriented."
    Also at the annual meeting, J. Clayburn La Force, Jr., Robert W. Mahoney,
Jay A. Precourt and Joseph F. Toot, Jr., were re-elected as directors for
three-year terms to expire at the 2002 annual meeting.
    The remaining seven directors are as follows:

    Stanley C. Gault, John M. Timken, Jr., W. R. Timken, Jr., and Alton W.
Whitehouse, whose terms expire at the 2000 annual meeting, and Ward J. Timken,
Martin D. Walker and Charles H. West, whose terms expire at the 2001 annual
meeting.
    At a meeting of the board after the shareholder meeting, the following
Timken Company officers were elected for the year:
    W. R. Timken, Jr., chairman, president and chief executive officer
    Bill J. Bowling, executive vice president, chief operating officer and
      president -- steel
    Robert L. Leibensperger, executive vice president, chief operating officer
      and president -- bearings
    Larry R. Brown, senior vice president and general counsel
    Jon T. Elsasser, group vice president -- bearings -- rail, Europe, Africa
      and West Asia
    James W. Griffith, group vice president -- bearings -- North American
      automotive, Asia Pacific and Latin America
    Karl P. Kimmerling, group vice president -- alloy steel
    Gene E. Little, senior vice president -- finance
    Salvatore J. Miraglia, Jr., group vice president -- bearings -- North
      American industrial and super precision
    Stephen A. Perry, senior vice president -- human resources, purchasing
      and communications
    Hans J. Sack, group vice president -- specialty steel and president --
      Timken Latrobe Steel
    John J. Schubach, senior vice president -- strategic management and
      continuous improvement
    Thomas W. Strouble, senior vice president -- technology
    Ward J. Timken, vice president

    Biographical Summary for John A. Luke, Jr.
    Mr. Luke joined Westvaco in 1979 and has served in various executive
positions including vice president and treasurer, senior vice president,
executive vice president, and president and chief executive officer.
    He earned his bachelor's degree in Asian studies in 1971 at Lawrence
University in Appleton, Wisconsin.  He also earned an MBA from the Wharton
School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, in 1979.
    He is a director for Westvaco and The Bank of New York.  He also serves as
a director for the American Forest and Paper Association, The Americas
Society, Inc.; Arkwright Mutual Insurance Company; and the United Negro
College Fund.  He is a trustee for Lawrence University and the Tinker
Foundation, and governor of the National Council of The Paper Industry for Air
and Stream Improvement, Inc.
    The Timken Company (http://www.timken.com) is a leading international
manufacturer of highly engineered bearings and alloy steels with operations in
25 countries.  The company employs 21,000 people worldwide and reported 1998
sales of more than U.S. $2.6 billion.