Ceradyne, Inc. Appoints David Reed President of North American Operations.

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- Ceradyne, Inc. (Company) (Nasdaq:CRDN) announced that it has appointed long-time Ceradyne Vice President, David Reed, to the newly created position of President of North American Operations. Reed, a 21-year veteran of Ceradyne, most recently held the position of General Manager of Advanced Ceramic Operations. He will continue as a corporate Vice President. Reed's new position gives him responsibility for all of North American Operations, including the Advanced Ceramic Operations in Costa Mesa, Irvine and San Diego, Calif., as well as the new plant in Lexington, Ky.; Ceradyne Thermo Materials in Scottdale, Ga.; and Ceradyne Semicon Associates in Lexington. Reed's focus has been and will continue to be the profitable growth of Ceradyne, with concentration on lightweight ceramic armor systems. Reed is a ceramic engineer and a graduate of Alfred University.

Joel Moskowitz, Ceradyne chief executive officer, commented: "The appointment of David Reed to this newly created position by Ceradyne's Board recognizes his contribution to Ceradyne and also is part of the Company's strategic plan, which includes a focus on defense products, as well as Ceradyne's non-defense advanced technical ceramic products and markets. Reed has been running the Advanced Ceramic Operations for some time, which represents the vast majority of sales and earnings. I am confident that Reed will lead his operations in a very positive, professional manner while maintaining Ceradyne's entrepreneurial culture."

Ceradyne develops, manufactures and markets advanced technical ceramic products and components for defense, industrial, automotive/diesel and commercial applications. Additional information about the Company can be found at www.ceradyne.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future performance of Ceradyne that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "plans," "expects," "intends," "future" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2004, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.