Boykin retiring as NNS president; Wilkinson named as successor

Jennifer Boykin, the president of Newport News Shipbuilding, will retire at the end of the year, parent company Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Wednesday. Kari Wilkinson, the president of HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding based in Mississippi and executive vice president of HII, will succeed Boykin in January.

Boykin has been with the shipbuilder for 37 years, and is the company’s 20th president. NNS is the state’s largest industrial employer, with 26,000 shipbuilders, according to the news release.

“I have asked Jennifer to stay on in an advisory capacity through March to support a seamless transition to Kari,” HII CEO and President Chris Kastner said in a statement. “You will not find a more loyal advocate than Jennifer for her shipbuilders and the Hampton Roads community. Kari’s leadership has steered Ingalls Shipbuilding into its next phase of growth, having secured serial production contracts for both the destroyer and amphibious ship programs. She is a tremendous leader and now brings her great energy and expertise to Newport News.”

Brian Blanchette, Ingalls Shipbuilding’s vice president of quality and engineering, was named to succeed Wilkinson.

Boykin joined NNS in 1987 in its nuclear engineering division, and became its first female president in 2017. The company is the nation’s only manufacturer of nuclear-powered Ford-class aircraft carriers for the Navy; it is also building 10 submarines for the service under a $22.2 billion-plus deal that was the military branch’s largest-ever shipbuilding contract, from which NNS is set to receive $9.8 billion. The shipbuilder reported 2023 revenues of $6.1 billion.

“Leading shipbuilders in the critical work we do for the nation has been and will continue to be the greatest honor of my life,” Wilkinson said in a statement. “I join the Newport News team with deep respect for its nuclear culture, commitment to safety, and an exceptional legacy further strengthened by Jennifer and the NNS team. I am fully committed to advancing our mission in support of our sailors, their families, and for all of us who depend on them for freedom and security.”

Wilkinson has been president of Ingalls Shipbuilding since 2021, overseeing 11,000 shipbuilders who build the Navy’s amphibious assault and surface combatant ships. Under her leadership, the company secured a $9.6 billion multi-ship procurement contract for three San Antonio-class amphibious ships and contract modification for the next America-class large-deck amphibious ship.