As Expected, Western Digital Names Pardun as Chairman

Completing a long-anticipated move, Western Digital Corp. said Thursday that it elected Thomas E. Pardun as chairman of the Irvine computer hard disk maker.

Pardun, 56, replaces Chuck Haggerty, 58, who retired from the board but will continue as chairman of Western Digital subsidiaries Connex and SageTree.

Western Digital said in January that Pardun, a director since 1993, would become chairman once the pending merger of MediaOne Group Inc. into AT&T; Corp. was complete. Pardun was president of MediaOne International’s Asia/Pacific division.

Pardun’s career in the media, telecommunications and computer industries dates back 35 years, Western Digital said in a press release. Before joining MediaOne, Pardun was the chief executive of U.S. West Multimedia Communications. Earlier, he was a division president of Sprint Communications. He also spent 19 years in marketing at International Business Machines Corp.

For six years, Haggerty guided Western Digital, one of the world’s largest disk drive makers, through periods of explosive growth and a devastating slump. He said last summer that he would retire as chairman, president and chief executive.

Matthew E. Massengill, 39, took over in January as president and chief executive and was elected to the board.

The company also said Thursday that Roger H. Moore, 58, and Henry T. DeNero, 54, were elected as directors, bringing the total number of board members to nine.

Moore is president and chief executive of Illuminet Holdings Inc., a computer network services company. DeNero is chairman and chief executive of Homespace Inc., an Internet real estate and home services company.