Apple has a new top lawyer and executive team member.
The technology giant said Friday that Katherine Adams is joining the company as general counsel and senior vice president of Apple’s (AAPL) legal and global security group. She was previously a senior vice president and general counsel of the electronics giant Honeywell where she worked for the past nine years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Adams is replacing Bruce Sewell, who is retiring after an eight-year stint as Apple’s general counsel.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kate to our team,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “She’s a seasoned leader with outstanding judgment and that has worked on a wide variety of legal cases globally.”
About the departing Sewell, Cook said: “He has tirelessly defended our IP, our customers’ right to privacy and our values. Bruce has set a new standard for general counsels, and I am proud to have worked with him and proud to call him a friend.”
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Adams will report to Cook and join Apple’s executive team, which includes Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services Eddy Cue, senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi, chief design officer Jonathan Ive, and senior vice president of retail Angela Ahrendts.
In May, the iPhone and Mac computer maker said its former human resources chief Denise Young Smith would become the Apple’s vice president for inclusion and diversity. Apple then appointed Deirdre O’Brien to become the company’s “vice president of people” and lead its human resources department and corporate training program, Apple University.