Kurt Waldo, EVP and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, to Retire
NEW YORK–Alcoa (NYSE:AA) announced today it has named Audrey Strauss Chief Legal
Officer, effective May 1. Strauss will also hold the titles of Chief
Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary. She succeeds Kurt Waldo,
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, who is
retiring on August 1. Strauss will serve on the Alcoa Executive Council,
the senior leadership group that sets strategic direction for the
company. She is currently a senior Litigation Partner at the law firm of
Fried Frank Harris Shriver and Jacobson, based in New York.
“We are extremely pleased that Audrey will spend the next phase of her
distinguished legal career with Alcoa,” said Alcoa Chairman and CEO
Klaus Kleinfeld. “We look forward to gaining the benefit of her
thoughtful counsel and experience as Alcoa continues to build on its
reputation as a high-performance, values-based company.”
Kleinfeld thanked Waldo for his years of effective service to Alcoa.
“Kurt has had a highly successful 32-year career at Alcoa, serving in
virtually every major position in the Legal Department,” said Kleinfeld.
“He has earned the trust, respect and gratitude of his Alcoa colleagues.
We wish him the very best.”
Biographical Information on Audrey Strauss:
Audrey Strauss has counseled corporations and individuals in a wide
range of matters while at Fried Frank. Prior to private practice, she
served in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New
York. There she was Chief Appellate Attorney, supervising the office’s
criminal appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit. She also served as Chief of the Fraud Unit, where she
supervised all securities and other fraud cases prosecuted by the US
Attorney’s Office.
Strauss has received a number of prestigious awards from organizations
such as the Federal Bar Council and the New York Council of Defense
Lawyers, and has been consistently recognized by the highly regarded
“Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.” She is President
of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers, a Fellow of the American
College of Trial Lawyers and Vice President of the Federal Bar Council.
Strauss earned her Juris Doctor at Columbia Law School, where she was a
Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a Kent Scholar. She received her Bachelor
of Arts (cum laude) at Barnard College.
About Alcoa
Alcoa is the world’s leading producer of primary and fabricated
aluminum, as well as the world’s largest miner of bauxite and refiner of
alumina. In addition to inventing the modern-day aluminum industry,
Alcoa innovation has been behind major milestones in the aerospace,
automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial
transportation, consumer electronics and industrial markets over the
past 120 years. Alcoa markets solutions including flat-rolled products,
hard alloy extrusions and forgings, as well as Alcoa® wheels, fastening
systems, precision and investment castings, and building systems in
addition to its expertise in other light metals such as titanium and
nickel-based super alloys. Sustainability is an integral part of Alcoa’s
operating practices and the product design and engineering it provides
to customers. Alcoa has been a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability
Index for 10 consecutive years and approximately 75 percent of all of
the aluminum ever produced since 1888 is still in active use today.
Alcoa employs approximately 61,000 people in 31 countries across the
world. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com.