National Instruments Named Among FORTUNE's'100 Best Companies to Work For' List for Ninth...

AUSTIN, Texas -- FORTUNE magazine yesterday released its annual ranking of the nation's top 100 companies to work for, listing Austin-based National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) as number 79. This is the ninth consecutive year National Instruments has made FORTUNE's "100 Best Companies to Work

"We have built a successful business with a fun, challenging work environment that is truly improving everyday life," said Dr. James Truchard, NI president, CEO and co-founder. "With a collective focus on innovation, creativity, growth and continuous improvement, NI employees are truly inspired and driven by the impact we're having throughout science and engineering. Together with our customers, we're tackling some of the world's most challenging problems such as global climate change, energy dependence and aging populations. This is what makes me look forward to coming to work every day."

While National Instruments is best known for pioneering virtual instrumentation with its LabVIEW graphical system design platform, internal programs support the company's belief that well-rounded employees foster the NI community and provide inspiration to excel. Programs such as LEGO([R]) MINDSTORMS([R]) mentorships and the company's internal community relations department provide employees with volunteer opportunities to help them give back to the community. The Wellness Circuit program and on-site gym encourage a healthy lifestyle, and activities such as deck parties and company-wide meetings foster camaraderie and a sense of community within the corporate environment.

"It is an honor to be selected as one of FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work For for nine consecutive years," said Mark Finger, NI vice president of human resources. "A key to our successful corporate culture over so many years has been our employees' commitment to both our work culture and the communities we live in. We continue to be grateful for their passion and dedication to both."

In addition to the FORTUNE "100 Best Companies to Work For" list, National Instruments has been named one of the best places to work in Germany (Best Workplaces in Germany 2004 and 2005; Great Places to Work Institute), Hungary (Best Employers in Europe 2004; Hewitt Associates), Italy (Best Workplaces in Italy 2007 and 2008; Great Places to Work Institute) and the United Kingdom (Best Workplaces in United Kingdom 2006 and 2007; Great Places to Work Institute).

How FORTUNE Chose the 100 Best

The Great Place to Work Institute compiles the list of best employers for FORTUNE each year. This year, more than 105,000 employees from 446 companies responded to the Institute's 57-question survey. Two-thirds of a company's score is based on the survey, which is sent to a minimum of 400 randomly selected employees from each company. The remainder of the score is based on the evaluation of company responses to several questions. For more information on the FORTUNE "100 Best Companies to Work For" list, visit www.fortune.com.

About National Instruments

National Instruments (www.ni.com) is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 25,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one industry representing more than 10 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 4,500 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. For the past nine years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America. Readers can obtain investment information from the company's investor relations department by calling 512-683-5090, e-mailing nati@ni.com or visiting www.ni.com/nati.

LEGO, MINDSTORMS and their respective logos are trademarks of the LEGO Group. (c) 2008 The LEGO Group.

LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.