Shipbuilders,

I am writing to share with you that after 26 years of dedicated service to NNS and HII, Julia Jones has made the decision to retire. Julia has been an essential part of the NNS family for nearly three decades and part of the NNS senior leadership team for more than four years, most recently serving as vice president of Quality.

Julia’s journey with shipbuilding began in 1998 when she joined NNS as a senior operations coordinator. During her tenure, she gained experience through assignments in Operations, Production Control and Nuclear Support. She also worked at HII’s corporate office for strategic planning. In addition to her recent position as vice president of Quality Assurance, Julia served as a trade director, director of Operations Integration, and vice president of Manufacturing.

At work and in the community, Julia has always answered the call to give back. Most recently, she served as executive sponsor of the Asian American employee resource group and as an advisor to the Women in Manufacturing community of practice. She also led the 2024 American Heart Association Hampton Roads Heart Challenge on behalf of NNS. Please join me in thanking Julia for her commitment to NNS and in wishing her all the best in her next chapter.

I am pleased to announce Karey Malyszko has been named the new vice president of Quality Assurance. This ensures we maintain a continuous and disciplined focus on strengthening our quality and compliance culture, nuclear principles and standards. Given the critical nature of the Quality Assurance organization, these changes are effective immediately, and I have asked Julia to remain at NNS through first quarter of 2025 to ensure an effective transition.

With more than 20 years of experience at NNS, Karey exemplifies the “Rickover Principles” of strong ownership and accountability. Prior to her most recent role as vice president of Plant Operations, Karey served in positions of increasing responsibility in our Nuclear Propulsion division. She has extensive experience with radiological work on every program across the shipyard, and leads with a strong focus on continuous learning and process improvement. She graduated from Virginia Tech with an engineering science and mechanics degree and also holds a master’s degree in engineering management from Old Dominion University.

Dave Vandegrift will serve as lead for Plant Operations until a permanent selection is made. Dave brings 39 years of shipbuilding and waterfront experience to this position. He is a second generation shipbuilder who began his career as an Apprentice rigger in X36. His performance, professionalism and quality results led to opportunities for additional positions of increasing responsibility. He most recently served as director of Waterfront Support Services. Dave exemplifies our culture of ethics and compliance and received HII’s 2024 Compass Award for Compliance.

These leaders will report to me, and then to incoming NNS President, Kari Wilkinson, after Jan. 1. Please continue to support each of them during this time of transition.

Respectfully,
Jennifer Boykin
President, Newport News Shipbuilding