William & Mary’s work as an AUKUS Center of Excellence gained momentum this summer with a pivotal memorandum of understanding, GO Virginia grant and U.S. Embassy London grant — plus applied learning opportunities for students to advance career readiness.
Nine months ago, the Hampton Roads Alliance named William & Mary as the U.S. academic home for an Australia, United Kingdom and United States (AUKUS) Center of Excellence, positioning the university as the American hub of an emerging research and innovation network spanning Williamsburg, Sheffield and Adelaide. Together, these will support AUKUS, an international trilateral security and defense partnership announced in 2021.
This summer, William & Mary and Adelaide University in Australia signed a five-year memorandum of understanding, establishing a framework for collaboration between the two institutions and creating a formal link between two of the countries involved in AUKUS.
To further this work, William & Mary was awarded a $100,000 planning grant from GO Virginia Region 5, a state-backed economic development group, to produce a comprehensive operating plan and feasibility report for the William & Mary AUKUS Center of Excellence. In addition, William & Mary received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Embassy London to organize a series of events on the theme of “Forging AUKUS Strength: U.S.-U.K. Burden-Sharing, Defense Industrial Resilience, and Shared Strategic Interests for a 21st Century National Security Platform.”
The work of the W&M AUKUS Center of Excellence spans the institution, organizing schools and units under the leadership of the William & Mary Whole of Government Center of Excellence and the Military & Veteran Affairs team with support from Government Affairs.
“AUKUS is an opportunity for universities to bring their distinctive strengths to one of the defining security and innovation challenges of our time,” said Provost Peggy Agouris. “William & Mary combines interdisciplinary research, international partnerships and a commitment to developing the next generation of leaders. Working with our partners in Australia and the United Kingdom, we can translate those strengths into research, education and innovation that advance our shared interests.”
A partnership between universities
Signed in July, the memorandum of understanding between W&M and Adelaide opens the door to collaborative projects involving students and academic staff, including:
- Cooperative research activities and joint funding applications
- Exchange of publications and academic materials
- Collaborative degree programs at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels
- Reciprocal facility access for doctoral and master’s researchers
- Cooperative quality assurance and benchmarking
“As we move into year two of the AUKUS Center of Excellence, this formal relationship with Adelaide University synchronizes our talents and insights in a way that allows academia to cross the Pacific Ocean to support the 21st Century’s National Security Platform, leveraging the brilliant minds of students and faculty,” said Kathryn H. Floyd, director of the Whole of Government Center of Excellence (WGC).
GO Virginia funds the blueprint
William & Mary’s center is one of eight flagship projects in the Hampton Roads Playbook, the region’s unified economic development strategy. The GO Virginia grant translates that strategy into an implementation-ready plan.
Funded activities include:
- A feasibility and operating study covering governance, programming, staffing and financial sustainability
- A physical space and facilities analysis
- Exploring partnerships with Sheffield, Adelaide and other prospective partners
- An industry engagement and capital strategy
- A formation plan and charter for an Industry and Stakeholder Steering Committee
The steering committee will bring together industry and business partners with direct stakes in submarine production, defense innovation and R&D ecosystem partners and localities and government partners, with seats reserved for the Hampton Roads Alliance and at least two Hampton Roads localities.
The grant addresses a structural gap the playbook names directly: Hampton Roads has historically been stronger at assembly than at research and development. The final report will lay the foundation for the long-term operating model of the AUKUS Center of Excellence.
U.S. Embassy London invests in the partnership
The U.S. Embassy London grant will turn William & Mary’s AUKUS vision into a practical, people-centered U.S.–U.K. program. The award supports two days of workshops at the University of Sheffield and a one-day public-facing conference with King’s College London in 2027, linking industrial and technological capability with the strategic discussion needed to sustain AUKUS over the long term.
At Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, participants will examine advanced manufacturing, supply-chain resilience, AI-enabled production, maritime systems and defense workforce development. In London, King’s College London will convene a broader conversation on shared U.S.–U.K. interests, strategic literacy and the role of academia, industry and government in building the next generation of AUKUS leaders. Together, the two university partners give the program both an applied industrial foundation and a high-level policy platform that turns transatlantic alignment into durable relationships, informed public engagement and practical pathways for future collaboration.
Students on the inside
With their security badges and clearances, students are already joining the next generation of AUKUS talent.
“AUKUS is ultimately about people and partnerships,” said Kathleen Jabs, special assistant to the president for military and veteran affairs. “William & Mary is building connections across academia, government and industry that give our students opportunities to contribute to real national security challenges while strengthening the workforce our three nations will need for decades to come. That is what we mean when we talk about building the AUKUS generation.”
Three Raymond A. Mason School of Business MBA students spent the summer with Rivencore US, which supplies sensors, naval lighting, corrosion protection systems and technical services to the U.S. Navy and allied defense customers to support submarine production acceleration.
Through WGC’s National Security Internship Program, Erin Degnan ’27 and Soeun Lee ’27 spent the summer with the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base Program, the office charged with revitalizing America’s submarine production and repair capacity across supply chain, workforce, infrastructure and technology. The Navy recognized their outstanding efforts and has already contracted them to continue part-time work over the next year.
Deeper than submarines
W&M’s work as a member of AUKUS rests on educational ties and cultural foundations in both Australia and the United Kingdom.
Chartered by William III and Mary II in 1693, the university’s British credentials predate AUKUS by three centuries. William & Mary’s enhanced maritime friendships with its AUKUS partners were laid more recently in March 2026, when Vice Provost for Research Alyson Wilson and Jabs traveled to the United Kingdom as part of the Hampton Roads Alliance’s delegation.
On March 18, William & Mary organized “Building the AUKUS Generation: Opportunities for Higher Education in Defence and Innovation,” a working lunch and panel discussion at King’s College London’s Department of War Studies.
For decades, William & Mary has had a study abroad partnership with the University of Adelaide administered by the Reves Center for International Studies; the Reves Center is launching a new program with the University of Sydney in summer 2027.
Involvement with AUKUS will continue for the years to come. Looking ahead, the university will host the AUKUS Summit featuring Chancellor Robert M. Gates ’65, L.H.D. ’98, and counterparts from the respective nations and governments on Feb. 11, 2027, as part of its Charter Day festivities.