Exhibit
99.1
February
22,
2008 Steven F.
Nicola
CFO, Secretary
& Treasurer
412:442-8262
MATTHEWS
INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
ELECTS
NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
PITTSBURGH, PA, February 22, 2008 --
Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ NMS: MATW) (the “Company”) today
reported that William J. Stallkamp has been named as the Company’s new Chairman
of the Board of Directors. Following the Company’s Annual
Shareholders’ Meeting on February 21, 2008, the Board of Directors elected Mr.
Stallkamp as Chairman. David M. Kelly, the Company’s former Chairman,
retired from the Board upon the close of the Shareholders’
Meeting. Mr. Stallkamp represents the Matthews’ first independent
board member to serve as Chairman.
Joseph C. Bartolacci, President and
Chief Executive Officer, stated: “We are delighted that
Mr. Stallkamp has accepted the role as Chairman of the
Board. His experience and tenure with the Company are invaluable and
I look forward to his continued counsel and support.”
In discussing his election, Mr.
Stallkamp stated: “It is a privilege for me to serve as Chairman of the Board of
Matthews, which has a long tradition of integrity and success, and I appreciate
the confidence of the Board in electing me to this responsibility. I
look forward to working with management to maintain the high standards set by
the Company towards its long-term objective of increasing shareholder
value.”
Mr. Stallkamp has been a director of
the Company since 1981 and has served as the Board’s Lead Independent Director
since fiscal 2005. He was a Vice Chairman of Mellon Financial
Corporation, a financial services company, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mellon PSFS in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania until his retirement on January 1, 2000. He
currently serves as a director of Cowee Forest Products, Inc., United Concordia
Companies, Inc., Highmark, The Philadelphia Stock Exchange and The
Smithers-Oasis Company. He is also a member of the Board of Directors
of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross and the
Franklin Institute.
Matthews
International Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a
designer, manufacturer and marketer principally of memorialization products and
brand solutions. Memorialization products consist primarily of bronze
memorials and other memorialization products, caskets and cremation equipment
for the cemetery and funeral home industries. Brand solutions include
graphics imaging products and services, marking products, and merchandising
solutions. The Company’s products and services include cast bronze
memorials and other memorialization products; caskets; cast and etched
architectural products; cremation equipment and cremation-related products;
mausoleums; printing plates, pre-press services and imaging services for the
primary packaging and corrugated industries; marking and coding equipment and
consumables, and industrial automation products for identifying, tracking and
conveying various consumer and industrial products, components and packaging
containers; and merchandising display systems and marketing and design
services.