Dr. William A. LaPlante was reelected to The Aerospace Corporation’s Board of Trustees on March 12, 2025, having previously served years ago.
Senate-confirmed in April 2022, LaPlante served as the under secretary of defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. In this role, he was responsible to the secretary of defense for all matters pertaining to acquisition; contract administration; logistics and materiel readiness; installations and environment; operational energy; nuclear, chemical, and biological defense; the acquisition workforce; and the defense industrial base.
At the Department of Defense (DOD), LaPlante played a critical role in providing security assistance to allies and partners worldwide, especially Ukraine. He established and led the Ukraine Defense Contact Group National Armaments Directors forum, which brought together more than 40 nations to synchronize procurement, production, and sustainment efforts, while guiding nearly $5 billion in direct investments into the U.S. defense industrial base and helping to obligate nearly $50 billion to procure capabilities for Ukraine or replace equipment.
In addition, he established the Joint Production Accelerator Cell to rapidly address supply chain and production challenges, while overseeing publication of the first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy. LaPlante guided many of the nation’s most important programs, including achieving low-rate initial production for the B-21 Raider and full-rate production for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, chairing a critical Nunn-McCurdy review of the Sentinel program, and establishing a new Warfighter – Senior Integration Group to counter the threat posed by unmanned systems.
Prior to this appointment, LaPlante served as president and chief executive officer of Draper Laboratory, a research and development company specializing in advanced technology solutions in national security, space exploration, health care, and energy. Previously, he was senior vice president and general manager at MITRE National Security, where he oversaw the operation of two federally funded research and development centers and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
LaPlante served as assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics from 2014 to 2017, where he aligned that service’s $43 billion acquisition enterprise budget with the Air Force vision and strategy. During his tenure, he forged a path forward on critical Air Force acquisition programs such as the B-21 long-range strike bomber, while realizing nearly $6 billion in “should-cost” savings in other programs. Prior to this position, LaPlante spent 26 years at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), ultimately leading the Global Engagement Department where he was responsible for all of APL’s work supporting offensive strike military capabilities. He also served as a member of APL’s Executive Council.
LaPlante has been a member of several scientific boards and commissions focused on maintaining national security, including the U.S. Strategic Command Senior Advisory Group, Naval Research Advisory Committee, and Defense Science Board. He joined other national experts as a commissioner on the congressionally mandated Section 809 Panel, which performed a comprehensive review of DOD acquisition policies and provided improvement recommendations, many of which became law.
LaPlante holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from the University of Illinois, a master’s degree in applied physics from Johns Hopkins University, and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from The Catholic University of America.