Prior to the Viacom split, Straka served as the Vice President and Associate General Counsel and Co-Head of the Corporate Transactions & Securities practice group in the Viacom corporate law department. She also served as an Assistant Secretary of Viacom, assisting the General Counsel with respect to Board of Directors matters. Prior to joining the Viacom corporate law department in February 2001, Straka served from May 2000 to February 2001 as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, then a majority-owned public subsidiary of Viacom. Since 1992 and up to the time of the May 2000 merger of Viacom and CBS, Straka was Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Secretary of CBS Corporation. Prior to then, she held various attorney positions with Westinghouse Electric Corporation (predecessor to CBS Corporation), H.J. Heinz Co. and the U.S. Veterans Administration, and served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. Straka earned a B.S. and M.L.S. from the University of Pittsburgh and a J.D., cum laude, from Duquesne University School of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review. She is a member of the New York and Pennsylvania Bar Associations.
