Minerals Technologies Inc. Nominates Kristina M. Johnson for Election to Board of Directors.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 28, 2000

The Board of Directors of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) on February 25 nominated Kristina M. Johnson, Ph.D., Dean of the Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School of Engineering at Duke University, to stand for election as a director of the company at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders on May 25.

Dr. Johnson, 42, is an internationally known expert in optics, optoelectronic switching, and display technology. She is a director emeritus of the Optoelectronics Computing Systems Center at the University of Colorado.

"Kristina Johnson's engineering expertise, leadership skills and high energy will be valuable assets to the MTI Board of Directors and to the future growth of the company," said Jean-Paul Valles, chairman and chief executive officer of Minerals Technologies Inc.

Before joining Duke University, Dr. Johnson was a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Colorado, where she was a leader in interdisciplinary research that melds light with electronics. Her research and teaching include holography, optical and signal processing, liquid crystal electro-optics and affixing a novel variety of liquid crystals to silicon to create new types of miniature displays and computer monitors. She holds approximately 30 patents and has also been active in engineering education. In 1991, she won a regional Emmy nomination for a 10-part television series, "Physics of Light," directed toward middle school-age students. The series was shown throughout the Rocky Mountain region.

Kristina M. Johnson was named Dean of the Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School of Engineering at Duke University in May 1999. She holds her B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University. She joined the University of Colorado faculty in 1985 after research work at IBM and at Trinity College in Ireland.

In 1994, Dr. Johnson helped found the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute Center for Excellence in Optoelectronics. She also co-founded two companies--ColorLink Inc. and KAJ LLC. ColorLink makes components for color projection devices based upon differing polarizations, or vibrational, states of light. KAJ LLC is an intellectual property licensing company that assists new firms using technology pioneered at the Optoelectronics Computing Systems Center at the University of Colorado.

Minerals Technologies Inc. is a resource- and technology-based organization that develops and produces performance-enhancing minerals, mineral-based and synthetic mineral products for the paper, steel, polymer and other manufacturing industries on a worldwide basis. The company had sales of $637.5 million for 1999.

For further information about Minerals Technologies Inc., call 1-888-MTX-NEWS (689-6397); or, look on the Internet at http://www.mineralstech.com