8-K

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT

                       Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
                       The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

         Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): June 20, 2002

                                 ADE CORPORATION
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

       Massachusetts                 0-26714                 04-2441829
(State or other jurisdiction       (Commission               (IRS Employer
     of incorporation)             File Number)           Identification No.)

                                  80 Wilson Way
                          Westwood, Massachusetts 02090
          (Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)




                                 (781) 467-3500
              (Registrant's telephone number, including area code)







Item 5.  Other Events

         On June  20,  2002,  ADE  Corporation  (the  "Company")  announced  the
election of Chris Koliopoulos,  Ph.D., as president and chief executive officer,
effective  immediately.  He succeeds Robert C. Abbe, who had served as president
and  chief  executive  officer  since  he  founded  the  Company  in  1967.  Dr.
Koliopoulos  will continue to serve as a director of the Company.  Mr. Abbe will
become a consultant to the Company and remains a member of the  Company's  Board
of Directors. For more information,  see the Company's press release, dated June
20, 2002, which is attached herewith as Exhibit 99 and incorporated by reference
herein.

Item 7.  Financial Statements, Pro Forma Financial Information and Exhibits

(c)      Exhibits.

Exhibit No.       Item

99                Press Release, dated June 20, 2002.







                                   SIGNATURES


         Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934,
the  Registrant  has duly  caused  this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

                              ADE CORPORATION
                              (Registrant)




                              By: /s/ Brian C. James
                                 Brian C. James
                                 Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Chief
                                 Financial Officer



Date:   June 27, 2002

EX-99

                                                                      Exhibit 99
[GRAPHIC OMITTED]                    NEWS RELEASE


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                        CONTACT: Brian James
                                             Executive VP and Chief Financial
                                             Officer
June 20, 2002                                (781) 467-3500

                            ADE CORPORATION NAMES NEW
                      PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER


WESTWOOD,  Mass. - ADE Corporation  (Nasdaq:  ADEX), a leading supplier of wafer
measurement and inspection systems for the silicon manufacturing industry, today
announced  the election of Chris  Koliopoulos,  Ph.D.,  as  president  and chief
executive officer,  effective  immediately.  He succeeds Robert C. Abbe, 64, who
has served as president and chief executive officer since he founded the Company
in 1967.  Dr.  Koliopoulos,  49,  will  continue  to serve as a director  of the
Company. He previously served as a corporate vice president and president of the
Company's subsidiary,  ADE Phase Shift. Mr. Abbe will become a consultant to the
Company and remains a member of the ADE Board of Directors.

"On behalf of the  entire  board,  I would  like to extend my sincere  thanks to
Robert for the legacy of technology  excellence he created for ADE," said Landon
Clay,  chairman of ADE's Board of Directors.  "He was the driving force behind a
series of  breakthroughs  over the past 35 years that  enabled ADE to  establish
itself as the world's leading  supplier of metrology and inspection  systems for
the silicon wafer and data storage industries."

"At the same time, we are pleased to be promoting  Chris to this  position," Mr.
Clay  continued.  "He is a highly  respected  industry  veteran who has played a
critical and growing role in establishing the Company's technical preeminence in
optical  metrology.  Chris possesses a solid  understanding of ADE technologies,
customers and markets and has the ability to translate this  understanding  into
new business."

"Robert has been a visionary in the industry for nearly four decades and has set
the stage for ADE's next growth phase," said Dr. Koliopoulos. "I look forward to
following  in his  footsteps  and  extending  the  Company's  long  tradition of
advanced technology  leadership.  The top priorities of our management team will
be to  capitalize  fully  on the  expected  ramp up in 300mm  capital  equipment
spending and return ADE to profitability."

Dr. Koliopoulos  co-founded Phase Shift Technology,  Inc., which merged with ADE
in 1998.  Since then, he spearheaded the development of ADE's  NanoMapper  wafer
nanotopography  system,  which has become  widely  recognized  as the  worldwide
industry  standard  for  qualifying  incoming  300mm  silicon  wafers.  Prior to
founding Phase Shift,  Dr.  Koliopoulos  founded and served as president of WYKO
Corporation,  a provider of optical interferometric  metrology systems, now part
of Veeco.  Dr.  Koliopoulos  also served on the faculty of the Optical  Sciences
Center at the University of Arizona.

Dr.  Koliopoulos  has a Bachelor of Science degree in optics from the University
of Rochester.  He earned his Master of Science and Ph. D. degrees in optics from
the University of Arizona.

Conference Call Reminder
ADE will host a  conference  call to discuss  this  announcement  as well as the
Company's fourth-quarter  financial results on Wednesday,  June 26, 2002 at 8:30
a.m.  Eastern  Time  (ET).  To  participate  in the  webcast,  please  visit the
"Investor Relations" section at the ADE website, located at www.ade.com, fifteen
minutes prior to the start of the conference call. This will allow  participants
the time to download and install any necessary audio software.  The software and
broadcast can be obtained at no charge to the user. A replay of the call will be
available on the website two hours after the completion of the  conference  call
and will continue to be available for a period of one week.


About ADE Corporation
ADE  Corporation is a leading  supplier of metrology and inspection  systems for
the silicon wafer and data storage industries. The Company's systems analyze and
report  product  quality at  critical  manufacturing  process  steps and provide
quality certification data that is relied upon by semiconductor and data storage
manufacturers.  The  Company's  systems  also  are  used in the  fabrication  of
integrated  circuits.  To learn more about ADE,  visit the Company's Web site at
www.ade.com.

This news release contains certain  forward-looking  statements that are subject
to known and unknown risks and uncertainties  that could cause actual results to
differ  materially  from those  expressed or implied by such  statements.  Those
statements  that make reference to the Company's  expectations,  predictions and
anticipations should be considered forward-looking statements.  These statements
include, but are not limited to, those associated with maintaining and enhancing
ADE's market opportunities,  the anticipated ramp up of 300mm spending and those
associated with the Company's return to profitability.  These statements involve
risks and  uncertainties  including  those  associated with the success of ADE's
product  offerings in meeting  customer needs within the timeframes  required by
customers in these markets.  Further information on potential factors that could
affect ADE Corporation's  business is described in the Company's reports on file
with the  Securities  and Exchange  Commission,  including its Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended April 30, 2001.