In a statement, the Canadian steelmaker said the appointments of Indira V. Samarasekera and Jack Lew were effective Wednesday. 

Samarasekera, a 2000 recipient of AIST’s J.Keith Brimacombe Memorial Lecture Award, is well-known for her work on steel process engineering. She currently serves as a senior adviser to Canadian law firm Bennett Jones LLP. She also serves on the boards of the Bank of Nova Scotia, Magna International and TransCanada.

From 2005, to 2015, Samarasekera served as the president and vice chancellor of the University of Alberta, one of Canada's most respected research universities. 

Jack Lew served as Treasury secretary from February 2013 to January 2017 under former President Barack Obama. He currently is a partner at investment firm Lindsay Goldberg LLC. 

Stelco announced the appointments in its first-quarter earnings release. 

For the quarter, the company posted a net profit of CA$28 million on sales of CA$482 million.  

 “Improving industry fundamentals and rising demand for steel should continue to benefit Stelco in the second quarter and beyond as we ship orders that were booked at sequentially higher prices during the first quarter," said Stelco chairman and chief executive Alan Kestenbaum. 

"In addition to the rising tide from stronger industry conditions, we have achieved a number of strategic initiatives that we expect will positively impact our shipping volumes and margins on an ongoing basis, including our investments in rail assets and enhancements to our dock at Lake Erie Works, which are now in place and are expected to improve our shipping volumes and reduce our shipping costs,” he added.