Cymer Appoints Paul Bowman as Interim Chief Financial Officer, Announces Departure of Nancy Baker

Cymer, Inc. (Nasdaq: CYMI), the global leader of light sources used to pattern advanced semiconductor chips, today announced that the company’s Board of Directors has appointed Paul B. Bowman as interim Chief Financial Officer. Nancy J. Baker has tendered her resignation as Chief Financial Officer, effective December 19, 2008, to pursue other opportunities.

Mr. Bowman has served as Cymer’s Vice President of Investor Relations since May 2008 and has 28 years of experience in various financial management positions at Applied Materials, Unisys, and IBM. Prior to joining Cymer, Mr. Bowman most recently served for two years as the Chief Financial Officer of American Mold Guard, which was a Nasdaq listed company, in the home services industry.

“We want to express our thanks to Nancy for her contributions and accomplishments during her tenure. We wish Nancy well with her future endeavors,” said Bob Akins, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cymer. “We are fortunate to have a finance executive of Paul’s caliber at Cymer to assume the interim CFO role during our search for a replacement, to help ensure a smooth transition,” concluded Akins.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature are forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to statements regarding the search for a permanent replacement as chief financial officer and the transition between chief financial officers. These statements are predictions based on current information and expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in any of such statements due to various factors, including the company’s ability to identify, hire and retain someone to fill the chief financial officer role on permanent basis. For a discussion of these and other factors which may cause actual events or results to differ from those projected, please refer to the company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as well as other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and the company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.

About Cymer

Cymer, Inc. is the market leader in developing laser light sources, used by nearly every major chipmaker around the world to manufacture advanced semiconductor chips. For more than two decades, Cymer has created light sources that are essential in creating the technology that impacts the way people work, communicate and play each day. Whether one has an iPod, computer, Blackberry or other electronic item, chances are Cymer’s light helped create the chip inside. In addition, Cymer is leading the industry in its transition to extreme ultra-violet lithography, the next viable technology needed to manufacture smaller, faster chips. In 2007, Cymer was named one of the “100 Fastest Growing Tech Companies” in the world by CNN Money/Business 2.0. The company was founded and is headquartered in San Diego, Calif. and supports its customers from two dozen offices around the globe. Cymer maintains a website at www.cymer.com to which Cymer regularly posts copies of its press releases as well as additional information about Cymer. Interested persons can subscribe on Cymer’s website to email alerts or RSS feeds that are sent automatically when it issues press releases, files its reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission or posts certain other information to the website.