With an eye on greater expansion into...

With an eye on greater expansion into international markets, Western Digital Inc. said Wednesday that it had elected the president of Polaroid Corp., I. M. Booth, and the chairman of Joy Manufacturing Co., Andre R. Horn, to its board of directors.

Roger W. Johnson, chairman of Western Digital, said in an interview that the appointments will help the Irvine-based manufacturer of computer equipment “move more aggressively” in foreign expansion as well as in increasing its market exposure within the United States.

“We wanted executives from companies with a history of fast growth,” said Johnson, whose company has made a spectacular turnaround since filing for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection in 1975. After posting earnings of $3.1 million for the third fiscal quarter of 1985, a 76% increase from the year-ago period, Johnson said that the company’s upcoming fourth quarter results “will not disappoint people.”

Johnson also said that the new directors may help to “broaden” Western Digital’s market outside the computer industry. He did not elaborate on that proposed expansion.

And Western Digital also gains crucial East Coast connections by the two appointments, with Polaroid located in Cambridge, Mass., and Joy Manufacturing headquartered in Pittsburgh. “I was happy to find a couple of guys on the other side of the country,” Johnson said.

Booth, named Polaroid’s chief operating officer in 1982 and president in 1983, joined the company in 1958 and held a variety of positions in its film and engineering divisions. At one time he managed Polaroid’s photographic operations.

Horn, who joined Joy Manufacturing in 1956, was named chairman in 1982. He served in various international positions and was named chief administrative officer prior to his election as chairman.

The two board openings--created by retirements--had been unfilled for more than a year, and one of the 10 director’s slots still remains open. But Johnson said that the last vacancy will only be filled when the company finds a trustee who matches the caliber of the two most recent appointments.