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Alcoa Announces Promotions

AA | August 26, 2013

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) today announced promotions that will extend Alcoa’s leadership in the area of environment, health and safety, and enhance the company’s business development and asset management capabilities worldwide.

Mike Barriere, Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Environment, Health and Safety (EHS). (Photo: Business Wire)

Mike Barriere, Vice President, Human Resources, was promoted to Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Environment, Health and Safety (EHS). He will have oversight of the newly combined Human Resources and EHS group. He will continue to report to Alcoa Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld and to be a member of Alcoa’s Executive Council, the senior leadership team that sets corporate policy. His appointment is effective immediately.
Kevin McKnight, Director, EHS & Sustainability, will become Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President of EHS, reporting to Barriere effective Sept. 1, 2013. McKnight succeeds Kevin Anton who plans to retire at year-end after more than 30 years in the metals and mining industry, including 15 with Alcoa.
Kenneth Wisnoski, President of Global Primary Products – Growth, Bauxite and Africa, was promoted to President of the newly created International Project Development and Asset Management group, effective immediately. Wisnoski will coordinate capital-intensive growth and asset management projects across Alcoa’s worldwide businesses and be a member of Alcoa’s Executive Council. The group comprises three units: Engineering and Construction, led by Otto Hiris, Vice President of Engineering and Construction; Asset Planning and Management, led by Mark Stiffler, who was promoted from Director to Vice President of Asset Planning and Management; and International Project Development, led by Wisnoski, who will continue to lead the Ma’aden-Alcoa joint venture construction project.

“By linking Alcoa’s health and safety initiatives with our Human Resources’ responsibility for employee wellness, medical benefits and training, we have strengthened Alcoa’s ability to ensure the welfare of our employees,” said Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “The new project development and asset management group will play an important role in Alcoa’s growth, developing and constructing new projects and managing the disposition and remediation of curtailed assets.”

“We have great confidence that the newly-promoted leaders of these organizations will have a profound and lasting impact on Alcoa’s growth and profitability,” Kleinfeld said. “And we thank Kevin Anton for his many contributions to our Primary business and for helping Alcoa set the standard in sustainability.”

Biographical Information

Mike Barriere joined Alcoa as Chief Talent Officer in 2011 and was promoted to head of Human Resources in 2012. Prior to Alcoa, he held senior HR positions at New York Life Insurance and Citigroup. Earlier in his career, he served as a system design engineer for Grumman Aerospace Corporation and a research scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory in its Human Factors and Performance Analysis Group. His work at Brookhaven and his PhD in industrial psychology from Hofstra University in New York both focused on human performance, safety culture and human error reduction in industrial environments. He also earned an MBA from the Wharton Business School at University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science from Hofstra.

In his 30-year Alcoa career, Kevin McKnight has had a track record of success in a variety of assignments that prepare him well to become Chief Sustainability Officer. After joining Alcoa as an attorney focused on environmental and commercial litigation, he has had key roles in product safety, environmental remediation, procurement and business services. In 1998, McKnight led Alcoa’s European Business Support Services, bringing together Financial Accounting, Credit and Treasury, Procurement, EHS and People Services. Since joining the EHS organization, McKnight has built Alcoa’s reputation as a best-in-class company in sustainability and has been responsible for assembling the documentation for Alcoa’s continuous recognition by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and other external organizations. McKnight graduated from The Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a major in Finance. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Kevin Anton has been Chief Sustainability Officer for Alcoa since 2010. Anton joined Alcoa in 1998 through Alcoa’s acquisition of Alumax, and has worked more than 30 years in the metals and mining industry. Since joining Alcoa, Anton has served as Vice President, Finance and Strategy for Alcoa Global Primary Products; President of Alcoa Materials Management; Vice President, Finance for Alcoa’s Primary Products organization and Vice President of Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals.

Kenneth Wisnoski joined Alcoa in 2005 as Vice President, Global Primary Products Growth, a role that shortly thereafter expanded to include oversight of growth and development opportunities in energy, smelting, refining and mining, and responsibility for the company’s operations in Africa. He was named President of Global Primary Products – Growth, Bauxite and Africa in 2008 and since 2010 has been leading development and construction of the Ma’aden partnership to create what will be the world’s largest fully integrated aluminum complex in Saudi Arabia. Prior to Alcoa, Wisnoski was President, Europe and Africa, for natural gas producer El Paso Corporation. He also held a variety of project management and leadership positions at Brown & Root, an international engineering and construction contractor. He graduated from the University of Dallas with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, completed post-graduate studies at Angelicum University in Italy, and earned an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas.

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 125 years. Among the solutions Alcoa markets are 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 11 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 30 countries across the world. For more information, visit www.alcoa.com and follow @Alcoa on Twitter at twitter.com/Alcoa.