Shirley Peterson Elected to Goodyear Board

AKRON, Ohio, April 13 -- Shirley D. Peterson, has been elected to the Board of Directors of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company .

"Shirley has had a distinguished career as a leader in business, government and academia," said Goodyear Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert J. Keegan. "She will make important contributions to our board."

Peterson began a 20-year career as an attorney with the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C., in 1969, becoming a partner in 1978.

In 1989, she accepted an appointment by President George H.W. Bush as Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Peterson remained there until 1992, when President Bush appointed her Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

In 1993, she rejoined Steptoe & Johnson as a partner and head of its tax practice, a position she held until her appointment as president of Hood College in Frederick, Md. in 1995. Peterson served in that position until 2000.

Peterson, 62, is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the New York University School of Law. She is a member of the board of directors of AK Steel Corp. and Federal-Mogul Corp. and is an independent trustee of The Scudder Mutual Funds, as well as a trustee of Bryn Mawr College. Peterson is a past director of Bethlehem Steel Corp. and the National Legal Center for the Public Interest.

She is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Edmund J. Randolph Award for outstanding service from the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Luther Institute's Wittenberg Award. She has served as chairwoman of the Commission on Government and Public Affairs of the American Council on Education and also as a member of the Commission on Maryland Ethics.

The election of Peterson brings the size of Goodyear's board to 11 members, 10 of whom are independent.

Goodyear is the world's largest tire company. Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, the company manufactures tires, engineered rubber products and chemicals in more than 85 facilities in 28 countries. It has marketing operations in almost every country around the world. Goodyear employs about 88,000 people worldwide.