IN BRIEF / Southland

Computer hard-disk drive maker Western Digital Corp. said Tuesday that Terry Hopp has resigned as the company’s chief financial officer.

The Lake Forest company said in a press release that it hired the search firm Russell Reynolds Inc. to help seek a replacement. Hopp also will help recruit her successor.

Hopp joined Western Digital in 1998 as vice president for finance after 17 years at accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP. She was named chief financial officer in December 1999.

During her tenure, she oversaw a financial restructuring of Western Digital’s hard drive operations that produced annualized cost savings of more than $300 million. Her efforts led to a return to profitability for that business in the final three months last year.

“I was attracted to WDC by the opportunity to participate in a turnaround effort, an effort that is now substantially complete,” Hopp said in the press release. “Over the upcoming summer months, I expect to spend more time with my family and to consider new opportunities.”