Alcoa, a producer of primary and fabricated aluminum, has appointed Audrey Strauss as chief legal officer, chief compliance officer, and corporate secretary. She assumes this position from Kurt Waldo, executive vice president, chief legal and compliance officer, who will be retiring Aug. 1.

Strauss will join Alcoa from law firm Fried Frank, where she currently serves as a senior litigation partner.

Alcoa also announced the following additional new appointments:

Max Laun will serve as vice president and general counsel. Laun began his legal career at Alcoa's legal organization in 1994 as counsel, progressing to senior counsel in 2001 and eventually as assistant general counsel in 2009.

Brenda Hart has been named assistant general counsel. In addition to her current role as leader of the securities and finance legal function and assistant corporate secretary, Hart also will assume the responsibilities of corporate governance counsel. She joined Alcoa in 2000 as counsel and assistant corporate secretary and was named senior counsel in 2004.

Esra Ozer has been appointed assistant corporate secretary. In addition to her new role, Ozer will continue to serve as director of executive communications, a position she has held since joining Alcoa in December 2008.

In other news, the company also announced that Donna Dabney, vice president and corporate secretary, will retire on Aug. 1.