EXHIBIT 99(b) NEWS RELEASE Release Date: Immediate Modine Manufacturing Company Contact: Gerald J. Sweda 1500 DeKoven Avenue Racine, Wisconsin 53403-2552 Telephone: (414) 636-1361 Modine board elects new director RACINE, Wis., Feb. 8, 1999 - The Modine Manufacturing Company (Nasdaq: MODI) Board of Directors has elected Marsha Williams to serve as a new director of the corporation, expanding the number of board members to ten. Since May 1998, Williams has been chief administrative officer for Crate & Barrel, a privately held specialty chain owned by the German company Otto Versand. Previously, she had been vice president & treasurer of Amoco Corporation and Carson Pirie Scott & Company, and vice president of The First National Bank of Chicago. Williams is a 1973 graduate of Wellesley College and earned an MBA in 1976 at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Modine is a world leader at solving heating and cooling problems in vehicles, buildings, and off-highway and industrial equipment. Modine has annualized sales of more than $1 billion and has 8,800 employees worldwide.