John Meier, Peter Wallace Join Applied Industrial Technologies Board of Directors

CLEVELAND, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Shareholders of Applied Industrial Technologies today elected John F. Meier and Peter C. Wallace -- both CEOs of New York Stock Exchange-listed companies -- to its Board of Directors with terms expiring in 2008. The election maintains the Board's size at 11 members.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051012/CLW031-a http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051012/CLW031-b)

Meier, 57, is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Toledo-based Libbey Inc., a leading supplier of tableware products in the U.S. and internationally. Wallace, 51, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Dayton-based Robbins & Myers, Inc., a manufacturer of equipment for the pharmaceutical, energy and industrial markets worldwide.

They replace William E. Butler and Russell R. Gifford who have retired from the Applied Board of Directors after 18 and 13 years of service, respectively.

"Applied's business acumen and corporate governance have benefited from a strong and independent Board of Directors comprised of accomplished professionals," said Applied Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David L. Pugh. "While we will miss the experience and guidance of Bill Butler and Russ Gifford, we look forward to the perspectives that John Meier and Peter Wallace will bring to our company as sitting CEO's of publicly traded companies.

"In particular, John Meier has deep experience in developing brands, managing channels of distribution and expanding international operations. In Peter Wallace, we have a director with direct experience in our business as well as marketing expertise in a range of industrial sectors, engineered systems and worldwide markets," Pugh said.

A native of Pittsburgh, Meier began his career at Owens-Illinois, Inc. and served for more than 20 years in various sales and marketing positions before becoming Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Libbey Glass unit in 1990. When Libbey Inc. was spun off as a separate company in 1993, Meier became its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He holds a bachelor's degree in business from Wittenberg University and an MBA from Bowling Green State University.

Wallace is a native of Milwaukee. After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in mechanical engineering, he joined Rexnord Inc., a manufacturer of power transmission and conveying components. He rose through various sales, engineering, product and marketing roles to become Vice President for Marketing and International Operations. Later, Wallace was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Rexnord. He also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of IMI Norgren Group, a manufacturer of motion and fluid control systems, before moving to Robbins & Myers in 2004. Wallace also holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

With more than 440 facilities and 4,500 employee-associates across North America, Applied Industrial Technologies is an industrial distributor that offers more than 2 million parts critical to the operations of MRO and OEM customers in virtually every industry. In addition, Applied provides engineering, design and systems integration for industrial and fluid power applications, as well as customized mechanical, fabricated rubber and fluid power shop services. For its fiscal year ended June 30, 2005, Applied posted sales of $1.72 billion. Applied can be visited on the Internet at http://www.applied.com/.