William LaPlante, formerly a vice president of Mitre, has been appointed as senior vice president and general manager of the nonprofit research company’s Center for National Security.
Mitre said Thursday LaPlante will lead efforts to increase the organization’s strategic value across its Defense Department, intelligence and cybersecurity portfolios.
CNS is comprised of two Mitre-operated, federally funded research and development centers called the National Security Engineering Center and the National Cybersecurity FFRDC.
LaPlante rejoined Mitre in 2015 to manage its NSEC’s intelligence portfolio after he served as assistant secretary for acquisition at the U.S. Air Force.
As assistant secretary for acquisition, LaPlante oversaw Air Force research, development and acquisition activities as well as a program portfolio of more than $32 billion annually.
He previously served as portfolio director for Mitre’s work with the Missile Defense Agency, where he led a team that provides analytic and systems engineering support for ballistic missile defense systems.
LaPlante is also a member of the Defense Science Board and a commissioner on Congress’ Section 809 Panel.
