Huntington Ingalls Industries Selects Kari Wilkinson to Lead Ingalls Shipbuilding Division

The Board of Directors of Huntington Ingalls Industries, the nation’s leading military shipbuilder, has elected Kari Wilkinson to serve as executive vice president of HII and president of HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division, effective April 1.

Wilkinson will succeed Brian Cuccias, who has served as president of Ingalls Shipbuilding since 2014. Cuccias announced that he will retire April 1.

“Kari is a respected leader with an impressive 25-year record of success managing programs and overseeing major shipbuilding initiatives at Ingalls,” said HII Executive Vice President and COO Chris Kastner. “Her focus on operational excellence, exemplary leadership skills and ability to build effective customer relationships well positions her for this new role, and I look forward to working with her to continue the Ingalls Shipbuilding legacy of success.”

Kari Wilkinson, who will report to Kastner, currently serves as Ingalls’ vice president, program management.

Wilkinson began her career with Ingalls as an associate naval architect in 1996. During her tenure, she has supported major shipbuilding production events and milestones from positions in Engineering.

Wilkinson transitioned into Program Management in 2007 as a ship program manager for the San Antonio-class LPD program, assuming the position of vice president, program management in 2016. In her current role, she has had profit and loss responsibility for all elements of program execution and serves as the principal liaison to the Navy and Coast Guard for all platforms in the Ingalls portfolio.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company, operating Newport News and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi, respectively.

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