Charles River Associates Appoints Ronald T. Maheu to Board of Directors; Former PwC Finance Committee Chair to Head CRA's Audit Committee.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 14, 2003

Charles River Associates Incorporated (Nasdaq: CRAI), an internationally known leader in providing economic, financial, and management consulting services, today announced that Ronald T. Maheu has been appointed to the Company's Board of Directors and will serve as Audit Committee chairman. Maheu replaces J. Robert Prichard, who has left CRA's board as part of his new position as President and CEO of Torstar Corporation, a leading Canadian media company.

"Ronald Maheu's expertise in corporate finance and his history of successful service on numerous boards make him an ideal candidate to lead CRA's Audit Committee," stated James C. Burrows, President and CEO of Charles River Associates. "Appointing an individual of such stature within the financial community to our board as an outside director underscores our commitment to corporate governance and to the independence of CRA's board."

Mr. Maheu, who recently retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers, has more than three decades of experience in the financial arena, working with a variety of organizations on matters involving corporate finance. For the past eight years, Mr. Maheu chaired the Audit Committee of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the largest nonprofit, nonpartisan association of Massachusetts employers. Named the committee's initial chairman, he led the formulation of business control risk assessments, methods, and policies. As a founding member of Coopers & Lybrand's Board of Partners, Mr. Maheu led the Finance Committee from 1994 to 1998, structuring oversight processes and risk assessments regarding business controls.

Following the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand in 1998, Mr. Maheu served on both the U.S. and Global Boards of Partners & Principals of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Responsibilities on the U.S. Board included membership on the company's Nominating Committee and chairmanship of the Finance Committee. For the Global Board, he served as a member of the Finance, Audit, and Election Committees.

A United States Marine Corps and Vietnam War veteran, Maheu holds a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross, an M.B.A. from Boston University, and an M.S. in taxation from Bentley College.

About CRA 

Founded in 1965, Charles River Associates is an economics, finance, and business consulting firm that works with businesses, law firms, accounting firms, and governments in providing a wide range of services. CRA combines economic and financial analysis with expertise in litigation and regulation support, business strategy and planning, market and demand forecasting, policy analysis, and engineering and technology management. CRA is distinguished by a corporate philosophy of providing responsive, top-quality consulting; an interdisciplinary team approach; unsurpassed economic, financial, and other analytic skills; and pragmatic business insights. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Boston and international offices in Brussels, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, Toronto, and Wellington, CRA also has U.S. offices in College Station, Houston, Los Angeles, Oakland, Palo Alto, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, and Washington, D.C. More information about the Company can be found on its Web site at www.crai.com.

Statements in this press release concerning the benefits expected to accrue to Charles River Associates as a result of appointing Ronald T. Maheu to the Company's Board of Directors and Audit Committee are "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties. Information contained in these forward-looking statements is inherently uncertain, and actual performance and results may differ materially. Such factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements made by the Company include, among others, dependence on key personnel, acquisition costs, attracting and retaining qualified consultants, dependence on outside experts, intense competition, and professional liability. Further information on factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.