Our Awards

MWCEA is proud to celebrate excellence in the Workers’ Compensation community through a variety of awards and scholarships. Many of our award recipients are both nominated and selected by our Awards Committee, while others invite open nominations from the community at large. 

Kenneth G. Perry Professionalism Award

Nominated and Selected by the Conference Awards Committee. 

Ken Perry’s career in the law spanned 50 years, and throughout his career, he presented himself as a connoisseur of professionalism. A transplant from the state of Texas, his legal career was spent entirely with a single firm which now operates as Shell Buford, PLLC in the Jackson, Mississippi area. Mr. Perry served for many years as the Workers’ Compensation Law professor at both the Jackson School of Law and the Mississippi College School of Law, and many of the attorneys practicing law in the field of workers’ compensation law today owe their expertise to him.

The Workers’ Compensation Section of The Mississippi Bar celebrates the memory of Mr. Perry’s consummate professionalism in the field of workers’ compensation by honoring one of its own with the Kenneth G. Perry Professionalism Award. The recipient is an attorney whose career is focused on workers’ compensation issues, and is a person who personifies civility, honesty, competence, and irreproachable ethics in his or her practice. Mr. Perry set the standard by which all lawyers aspire to be judged. A hearty congratulations is extended to this year’s recipient.

Past Award Recipients

• 2016 Charlie Baglan

• 2015 James M Anderson

• 2014 Louie Ruffin

• 2013 Thomas A. Webb

• 2012 A. Horace Brewer

• 2011 Marjorie O’Donnell

• 2010 Tommy Dulin

• 2009 Gary Jones

Kids Chance of Mississippi

Nominated and Selected by the Conference Awards Committee. 

Kids’ Chance of Mississippi is a scholarship fund established by the Mississippi Bar Foundation under the Administrative Law and Workers’ Compensation Section of the Mississippi Bar to provide scholarships for children between the ages of 17 and 23 who have had a parent killed or permanently and totally disabled on the job. Kids’ Chance of Mississippi provides scholarships for students to attend vocational/technical school or college. Former MWCC Commissioner, Lydia Quarles, was instrumental in facilitating the evolution of the program.

The MWCEA has adopted Kids’ Chance of Mississippi as its official charity and strives to assist with the dissemination of information about Kids’ Chance and to assist with providing manpower to Kids’ Chance in fundraising efforts. The Board of Directors of the MWCEA expresses its sincere appreciation to our volunteer committee members.

We ask for your assistance in the ongoing effort to raise community awareness regarding the availability of this scholarship. It is our sincere hope that no child who stands to benefit from this award miss out due to lack of knowledge. 

Past Award Recipients

• 2016-2017 Winners​

  • Amelia Ann Carr (Mississippi Delta CC)

  • Mary Katherine Carr (Mississippi Delta CC)

  • Johnnay Lelissa Holt (University of Mississippi)

• 2015-2016 Winners​

  • Emilee Annette Wiygul (Itawamba CC)

  • Jayme Sherryll Pinkard (University of Mississippi)

  • Jenna Alyssa Pinkard (University of Mississippi)

  • Johnnay Melissa Holt (Mississippi State University)

  • Lauren McKenzie Coleman (Mississippi State University)

  • Lindsey Cheyanne Turner (Mississippi College)

  • Mary Katherine Carr (Mississippi Delta CC)

  • Blanton Price Coleman (Mississippi State University)

  • Dylan Patrick Murphy (Mississippi College)

• 2013-2014 Winners​

  • Lauren McKenzie Coleman (Mississippi State University)

  • Rachel Victoria Phillips (UMMC)

  • Maverick Monroe Smith (Itawamba CC)

Kids’ Chance Scholarships are available to children of those who were killed or seriously injured in a work related injury. As there are a large number of potentially eligible applicants, funds to establish and continue the scholarships are always needed. Many members of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Mississippi Bar serve as mediators, and many of those mediators agree to donate a portion of their fees to the Fund.

Sam Cox Spirit Award

Nominated and Selected by the Conference Awards Committee. 

Sam Cox was a larger than life friend to the workers’ compensation community, who was loved by all who knew him and whose memory is honored in the Sam Cox Spirit Award. Sam was funny, energetic, and focused, and with his passing in 2007, we all lost a great friend. A vocational rehabilitation and medical management professional, Cox was an owner and leader of Rehabilitation, Inc. and a founder of Rehab Review, both located in the Jackson, Mississippi area. Sam was also an accomplished tri-athlete who successfully competed in many events around the nation. Sam’s spirit remains alive within his family, his business partners and employees, his friends, and others with whom he interacted professionally and socially. Sam accepted every opportunity and challenge with enthusiasm and commitment, and his vision, integrity and thoroughness were accepted by all as simply Sam’s persona.

The recipient of the Sam Cox Spirit Award is a non-lawyer member of the Mississippi workers’ compensation community who epitomizes those wonderful traits for which Sam was known. He or she exemplifies Sam’s inimitable spirit, his love of life, and his positive influence on our world.

Thank you, Sam, for setting such a wonderful example for all of us.

Past Award Recipients

• 2016 Liles Williams (MSWCC)

• 2015 Cora Beth Hartfield (MS Truck, Food & Fuel – SIF)

• 2014 Dan Gibson (MASI)

• 2013 Stephanie Kilpatrick (Rehabilitation, Inc.)

• 2012 Billy Roberts (AmFed Companies, LLC)

• 2011 Perry Nations (Association of General Contractors)

• 2010 Dean Watkins (The Taylor Group)

• 2009 John H. Nall (CompTrust)

Recovery & Return (R&R) Award

The Recovery & Return Award is presented annually to a worker injured on the job in Mississippi that has demonstrated exceptional motivation to obtain physical recovery and return to the productive workforce. 

Mission: This award is presented to acknowledge the fundamental purpose of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Law: to restore injured workers to health and vocational opportunity; and to recognize excellent effort by an injured worker to achieve those goals.

Criteria: A nominee for the Recovery & Return Award must be a worker who:

• Was injured on the job in Mississippi

• Has obtained physical recovery (MMI) and returned to employment

• Demonstrated exceptional motivation in complying with medical treatment and focus on speedy recovery

• Demonstrated the desire and willingness to return to work in all medically approved capacities

• Maintained meaningful communication with employer regarding recovery progress and desire to return to work in accommodated or other capacity

Any worker injured in Mississippi who meets the above criteria is eligible for award nomination. The process is begun by completing an application from the MWCEA website.

All applications are reviewed by a MWCEA panel of at least five judges. Judges may not participate in scoring if their own organization has submitted entries. Entries are rated and scored in each area of the award criteria on a scale of 1-10.

The winning entry will be announced at the annual Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Educational Association’s annual conference/meeting in April each year, and will hold that status until the next year. The winner will also provide a program at the MWCEA conference of its unique application of work comp effectiveness with a presentation up to 5 minutes.

Nomination/Application Due: February 1

Mississippi’s Outstanding Employer in Workers’ Compensation 

The Mississippi’s Outstanding Employer in Workers’ Compensation Award is given to a Mississippi employer who understands and appreciates the benefits of a viable workers’ compensation program. The employer also has a good focus on safety, regularly tries to “do the right thing” regarding payments to be made, and diligently strives to accomplish the goals of facilitating return to work post-injury.

Mission: This is an annual award given to a Mississippi employer who understands and appreciates the benefits of a viable workers’ compensation program, who has a good focus on safety, who regularly tries to “do the right thing” regarding payments to be made, and who diligently strives to accomplish the goals of facilitating return to work post-injury. 

Criteria: This is an annual award given to a Mississippi employer who understands and appreciates the benefits of a viable workers’ compensation program, who has a good focus on safety, who regularly tries to “do the right thing” regarding payments to be made, and who diligently strives to accomplish the goals of facilitating return to work post-injury. 

The award would be made each year, alternating between the MWCEA and MASI’s annual conferences.

MWCEA and MASI will be jointly involved in the development of the criteria for award recognition as well as in the promotion and selection of the award recipient each year.   Each Board will designate 3 members of a joint committee charged with establishing the criteria, soliciting and evaluating nominations, and recommending a recipient to each of the Boards. Each Board has authority to approve the recommendation.

The recipient of the award will receive a unique plaque with the joint committee making recommendations to each Board as to the details of the plaque, and a smaller plaque or other acknowledgement will be prepared for display at the Mississippi Workers’ Commission offices as well as at MASI’s offices for each recipient.