Local News in Brief : Countywide : Head of Western Digital to Lead UCI Foundation

Roger Johnson, chairman of Western Digital Corp. in Irvine, has been elected chairman of the UC Irvine Foundation, a not-for-profit fund-raising arm of the university.

Johnson, who is also a member of the Chancellor’s Club and serves on the Graduate School of Management Advisory Board, succeeds Walter Gerken, chairman of Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. Gerken remains on the foundation board as chairman emeritus.

Johnson, who joined Western Digital in 1982, is credited with redirecting the firm, a process that is expected to result in sales of $1 billion in 1989. Johnson, a native of Hartford, Conn., lives in Laguna Beach.