FRICKS ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF NEWPORT NEW SHIPBUILDING

January 16, 1997, NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The members of the board of directors of Newport News Shipbuilding (NYSE: NNS), which is America's largest ship design and construction company, have elected William P. Fricks as chairman of the board.

Fricks is currently president and chief executive officer of the company and will assume the additional title of chairman.

Today's election by the board of directors came at its first meeting since Newport News Shipbuilding was spun off from its parent corporation, Tenneco, in December 1996 to become an independent, publicly-traded company.

Fricks, 52, is a native of Georgia and graduated from Auburn University in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in Industrial Management. He joined Newport News that same year in the Industrial Engineering Department and over the succeeding 30 years has held a wide range of senior management positions in the company -- including controller, treasurer, vice president of finance, vice president of marketing, vice president of human resources, vice president-technical, senior vice president and executive vice president. He was named president and chief operating officer in September 1994 and became president and chief executive officer in November 1995.

Under Fricks' leadership, the company has sustained its core business of aircraft carrier and submarine construction, and maintained a backlog of orders exceeding $3 billion.

At the same time he has focused the company's attention on expanding its Navy business to include such future programs as the Arsenal Ship and SC-21. He has also orchestrated major capital improvement projects totaling approximately $115 million to increase the company's competitiveness. Among these are introduction of state-of-the-art automated manufacturing equipment, a 500-foot extension of the yard's largest drydock and construction of a specially-designed facility for overhauling and refueling nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. In February of last year he kicked off a major initiative to promote process innovation throughout the shipyard, with a target of cutting in-half the time it takes to design and build a ship.

"We have a solid business base and a 110-year tradition on which to build," Fricks said. "Add to that the world's most advanced shipbuilding facilities, the most talented shipbuilders and an incredibly experienced and capable board of directors, and you have the formula for success even in today's highly competitive shipbuilding markets."

Newport News Shipbuilding has produced approximately 800 ships during its 110 years of operations -- including Navy aircraft carriers, submarines and cruisers. It is currently building the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) and Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and has begun work in preparation for construction of the Navy's New Attack Submarine. Its 1995 revenues totaled $1.8 billion, with operating income of $157 million. The current backlog is approximately $3.5 billion. The workforce numbers 18,000, making it Virginia's largest private employer.