Huntington Ingalls Industries is stepping up its emphasis on environmental, social and governance programs by creating a new executive vice president’s post reporting directly to president and chief executive officer Chris Kastner.
The parent of Newport News Shipbuilding said Paul C. Harris is its new executive vice president and chief sustainability and compliance officer. Harris has served as HII’s chief compliance officer since 2020.
“We see sustainability as important to long-term growth, built around our values and commitments to our employees, customers and shareholders,” Kastner said.
Companies have been moving to create such posts in the past few years as more investors focus on environmental and social issues.
The Society for Human Resource Management says a key task for chief sustainability officers is to propose and put in place strategies to address environmental concerns including energy use, conservation, reduction of pollution, recycling and facility design.
As HII’s corporate vice president and chief compliance and privacy officer, Harris has been reporting to HII’s general counsel on matters of compliance.
Harris came to HII from Hampton University, his alma mater, where he served as a senior vice president. An Army veteran who served in the 10th Mountain Division, Harris represented a district anchored in Albemarle County in the House of Delegates from 1998 to 2002. He was the first African American Republican elected to that body since Reconstruction.
Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com