Alcoa Appoints Chief Customer Officer; Makes Automotive Appointments

    PITTSBURGH--June 26, 2003--Alcoa announced today several personnel moves in the customer and transportation areas that include the creation of two new positions.
    Effective immediately Veronica M. (Ronee) Hagen, 57, has been named Chief Customer Officer, a new position accountable for further developing a customer centric culture throughout the corporation. Ms. Hagen has been president of Alcoa Engineered Products, which produces extrusions, tubes, and wire, rod and bar for the transportation, building and construction and other industries. This business operates 21 plants and multiple sales offices and service centers in North America. She is also a vice president of Alcoa. She is based in Chicago.
    Also effective immediately, L. R. (Rick) Milner, 57, has been named to the newly created position of President, Alcoa Advanced Transportation Systems. In this new position, he will be responsible for combination of Alcoa's design, product, process capabilities to serve customer needs for integrated product and materials systems solutions for the aerospace, automotive and commercial vehicle markets. He will also lead the automotive market sector team. Mr. Milner has been president of Alcoa's automotive business since 1998 and a vice president of Alcoa since 1991. He will remain located at Alcoa Technical Center, near Pittsburgh.
    "As Chief Customer Officer, Ronee will interact with the commercial leadership in all Alcoa businesses to develop metrics, tools and organizational capabilities to drive profitable organic growth and deliver results congruent to Alcoa's customer Value," says Bill Christopher, executive vice president, Alcoa and group president for Alcoa Aerospace, Automotive and Commercial Transportation.
    "Rick will take the manufacturing capabilities that Alcoa has developed for the automotive area through its automotive design and fabrication business and will apply them to our entire transportation segment," Christopher explains. "We are broadening the scope of the automotive design and fabrication business to support the commercial transportation and aerospace markets as well." The new Advanced Transportation Systems business has plants both in the U.S. and in Europe.
    In other personnel moves, Alcoa said that Robert (Bob) Alexander, 46, currently vice president of Alcoa and chairman and president of Alcoa Fujikura Ltd., will also assume additional responsibility for Alcoa's automotive casting businesses, located in Michigan and Kentucky in the U.S. and in Farsund, Norway. AFL, a joint venture between Alcoa and Fujikura Ltd. of Japan that makes electrical/electronic distribution systems for the automotive market, has locations in 13 countries.
    And, as previously announced, Robert S. Hughes II, 58, currently Chairman's Counsel will retire July 1, 2003. He had been group president of Alcoa Automotive and Allied Products and president of Alcoa Fujikura Ltd.

    Biographical information follows:

    Veronica M. (Ronee) Hagen

    Veronica M. (Ronee) Hagen was elected vice president of Alcoa and president of Alcoa Engineered Products in 2001. Alcoa Engineered Products produces extrusions, tube, wire, rod and bar for many industries, including the transportation, building and construction, and consumer durables industries.
    Ms. Hagen joined Alcoa in 1998 as executive vice president for the Engineered Products business. Before joining the company, she was executive vice president, Distribution & Industrial Products for Alumax, Inc., which Alcoa acquired in July 1998.
    Prior to her affiliation with Alcoa and Alumax, Ms. Hagen was president of Metal Sales Associates, based in Los Angeles, California, where she provided West Coast sales representation for Cressona Aluminum Company and other ferrous and nonferrous manufacturers. She has over 20 years of executive sales experience in the metals industry.
    Ronee is a graduate of the University of Southern California where she earned a BA in International Relations, and has participated in executive education programs at Harvard and Wharton.

    Rick Milner

    Rick Milner has headed Alcoa's automotive castings, structures and engineering businesses since 1998. He responsibilities include expanding the use of aluminum in automobiles and integrating Alcoa's technical and commercial initiatives in the automotive markets globally.
    Mr. Milner began his Alcoa career in 1968 in a sales position in Dallas, followed by a marketing position in aerospace forgings in Cleveland and sales assignments in Detroit and Garden City, New York. Mr. Milner then began a series of marketing and sales management positions including marketing manager for the Wire, Rod and Bar Division in Massena, New York and sales manager in Dallas. In 1980, he took on an international assignment as general manager of commodity, marketing and supply for Alcoa of Australia in Melbourne, Australia. In 1984, he returned to the U.S. as general manager of the Castings Division based in Pittsburgh and two years later he was named general manager of Primary Products, marketing. In 1987, he was named director of Corporate Development and elected a vice president of Alcoa in 1991.

    Robert T. (Bob) Alexander

    Bob Alexander was elected vice president of Alcoa and chairman of the AFL joint venture in January 2003. He had been president, AFL Automotive Operations, a position he assumed in 2001 with accountability for AFL's worldwide automotive businesses, which include design and manufacture of automotive electrical/electronic systems and components.
    Mr. Alexander has held various engineering, program management, and business management positions during his tenure with Alcoa's AFL joint venture. He has served as general manager of AFL's Japanese automotive business, director of AFL's EDS programs, and vice president, Full Service Supply. In 1997, Mr. Alexander was named vice president of Design Engineering and Program Management for AFL. In 2000, he assumed accountability for AFL's manufacturing operations in North America and one year later was assigned full accountability for AFL Automotive Operations worldwide.

    Robert S. Hughes II

    Bob Hughes was named president of AFL in 1996, elected a vice president of Alcoa in 1997, and appointed executive vice president of Alcoa and group president of Allied Products in 2001, with responsibility for Alcoa's global automotive market as well as the North American extrusions businesses. He also led the automotive market sector team. He was named to his present position in January 2003.
    During his extensive career with Alcoa, which started in 1967, he has held sales, marketing, manufacturing and business unit management positions with increasing responsibility. He assumed sales positions in Dallas, Detroit, St. Louis and Philadelphia before becoming manager of packaging sales in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1975. He participated in the Conference Board's Congressional Assistant Program in Washington, D.C. and upon his return to Alcoa worked as production superintendent, Cold Mills in Tennessee. He was based in Pittsburgh as central regional manager, Field Sales shortly thereafter he was named manager of Corporate Planning. In 1984, Mr. Hughes became marketing manager, Forging Division based in Cleveland, subsequently, was made plant manager, and in 1987 he became general manager, Wheel Products Division. He was named general manager, Alcoa Forgings and Castings Division in January 1991 and president of Alcoa Forged Products in August 1991.
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