Paul Harris, a senior vice president at Hampton University, has announced he will join Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) to serve as the military shipbuilder’s corporate VP and chief compliance and privacy officer.
He will step down from his current position at the Virginia-based educational institution in the coming weeks after four years of service.
An alumnus of Hampton U, Harris served as an active-duty officer at the U.S. Army for four years following his graduation from the school in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
He also holds a juris doctorate from the George Washington University Law School and served as deputy associate attorney general at the Department of Justice from 2001 to 2003.
After his stint at DOJ, he held positions at Raytheon, Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Ernst & Young and Sodexo.
His government service began in 1997 when he won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates and he made history as the first elected African-American Republican member of the Virginia General Assembly since 1891, according to his official biography on Hampton University’s website.
