EL SEGUNDO, CA, June 1997 -- International Rectifier today presented twenty $1,000 scholarships to graduating high school and college students as part of its Outreach Scholarship Program for inner-city and neighboring schools. The Company gave scholarship recipients and their families a tour of IR’s El Segundo plant facility followed by a luncheon award program at the Embassy Suites Hotel in El Segundo.

This scholarship program is designed to encourage the study of science and engineering among young adults from schools near its world headquarters in El Segundo, its manufacturing plant in Riverside County, and the Los Angeles inner city.

This year, 16 high schools participated in IR’s Outreach Scholarship Program. To qualify, students must have a minimum 3.0 average and complete an essay detailing their education goals. If applicants maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA they will be eligible for the scholarship next year. This year, seven students are returning scholarship recipients.

An added benefit of IR’s Outreach Scholarship Program is the opportunity to apply for summer employment at International Rectifier. Alex Lidow, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “The future of high technology depends on the interest and education of young adults in the engineering and science fields. We believe educational aid and on-the-job experience is essential to encourage the pursuit of a career in high technology. IR’s scholarship program has been extremely successful, and we are inspired to continue this program by the many returning scholarship recipients.

On June 13, 1997, at IR’s Temecula HEXFET America facility in Riverside county, IR presented four scholarships to recipients from Riverside neighborhood schools. In addition to their $1,000 scholarship, these recipients and their families enjoyed a tour of the HEXFET America facility and a luncheon reception at the Thornton Restaurant in Temecula.

This year scholarships were awarded to Alexis Beatty, Temecula Valley High School; Karlos Chavez, Roosevelt High School; David Cooper, Elsinore High School; Kori Dickerson, Washington Prep High School; Chris Esguerra, Temescal Canyon High School; Mia Gramata-Jones, Dorsey High School; Ryan Henneberg, El Segundo High School; Donald Henry, Los Angeles Southwest College; Aisha Kennedy, Crenshaw High School; Janet Montano, Alain Leroy Locke High School; Kimberly Nibbe, Murrieta Valley High School; Martin Reyna, Los Angeles Trade Tech College; Chavis Richardson, Westchester High School; Jong Min Seto, Abraham Lincoln High School; Jose Vitela, James Garfield, High School; Zachary Young, East Los Angeles College.

Returning recipients are Adax Clay, University of Southern California; Joanna Lopresto, Riverside Community College; LeKisha Moore, Stanford University; Rachel Nixon, University of Southern California; Kris Petrevski, California State University, Long Beach; Eduardo Rivera, University of California, Davis; Andrew Wong, Yale University.