SANTA CLARA, CA -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), a leader in systems and solutions that make the Net work, today announced that John Shoemaker, 59, executive vice president for Computer Systems, after more than 25 years service to the computer industry and 12 years with Sun, has decided to retire from full-time duties but will remain with the company, teaching and mentoring at Sun's new Leadership Institute. ``Throughout his career, John has worked with our next generation of leaders to advance Sun and our systems with customers around the world. As a result, his mark will be felt for years to come,'' said Ed Zander, president and COO, Sun Microsystems. ``The continuity of leadership we are able to demonstrate today is a result of successful succession planning and leadership development. We have the people and plans in place to assure Sun's continued leadership and momentum in the market.'' The company is pleased to announce that Clark Masters, Neil Knox and David Yen will succeed John Shoemaker as leaders of the company's Computer Systems organization. All three previously reported directly to Shoemaker and will now report to Zander. Shoemaker will continue to lead Computer Systems and oversee the transition which is expected to be complete by July 1, 2002. Clark Masters, 52, will lead Sun's Enterprise and vertical systems business, focusing on mid range through high end enterprise products. After joining Sun in 1996 as part of the Cray acquisition, Masters played a key leadership role in Sun's success in commercial and high performance computing markets and specifically the Sun Enterprise (TM) 10000 and Sun Fire(TM) 15K server lines. Neil Knox, 49, will lead Sun's Edge computing and horizontal systems business, responsible for the continuing development of Sun's volume server and desktop systems product lines, including the next generation of Linux and Blade systems. Neil's 14 years at Sun have included spearheading the sales success of Sun's Netra(TM) product line in key markets and most recently product and market leadership in volume systems. David Yen, 50, will continue to lead Sun's Processor Products Group, responsible for all microprocessor development. During his 13 years at Sun, Yen has gained extensive experience of engineering industry-leading systems and processor product development. Shoemaker has played a key leadership role in growing Sun's server business to its current industry leading position for entry, mid-range, high-end and total server systems. Additionally, Shoemaker drove industry-leading performance for Worldwide Operations in overall asset management, inventory turns, plant utilization and workforce productivity.