Western Digital Corp. today announced that it has appointed Kensuke Oka and Masahiro Yamamura to its board of directors, effective May 17, 2012. Mr. Oka is president and CEO of Hitachi America, Ltd., and Mr. Yamamura is corporate officer, general manager of the Semiconductor Business Division of Hitachi, Ltd.

"The additions of Mr. Oka and Mr. Yamamura offer our leadership team vital insight as we operate WD and HGST as independent subsidiaries in the competitive hard drive industry," said Thomas Pardun, WD chairman of the board. "Both have deep executive management experience leading operations in the electronics and industrial systems industries, primarily for Hitachi, providing new perspectives to WD as we continue our focus on sustained profitable growth."

Mr. Oka has served Hitachi companies for more than 35 years, including leadership positions in communications, human resources and intellectual property functions. Prior to his current position with Hitachi America, Ltd., he was corporate officer and general manager of the Intellectual Property Group of Hitachi, Ltd., and before that, deputy managing director of Hitachi Asia Ltd.

Mr. Yamamura was chairman of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Inc. in 2010 and 2011, during which time he served his current role for the semiconductor business division of Hitachi, Ltd. and as corporate officer of Hitachi, Ltd. Prior to that, he was president of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Japan, Ltd. and earlier was director, chairman and CEO of Renesas Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.