Tony Myers: Distinguished Service Award

Dr. Joe Gilgour presents the N. Gayle and Rowena Simmons Distinguished Service Award to Tony Myers at the 2024 Commencement Ceremony

The N. Gayle and Rowena Simmons Distinguished Service Award is one of Mineral Area College’s highest honors. It is given to a community member who has had an affiliation with the college and distinguished themselves in outstanding community service. We are pleased to honor Tony Myers of Farmington with this year’s award.

Myers is the current President of the Mineral Area College Foundation Board and has served as a Board member since 2005. During that time, he served with Dr. Gayle Simmons and was a supporter of the matching funds program that Dr. Simmons pioneered, which continues to have a significant impact on Mineral Area College and students. He also represented MAC for several years, providing leadership training and development for many regional businesses through the Missouri Customized Training Program.   

Myers’ leadership has been instrumental in the development of educational opportunities throughout our region. He is a founding member and current President of the Industry and Education Partnership, an organization of local employers and schools working together to help students gain training, transferable skills, and experience with regional production and manufacturing businesses to help prepare them for jobs after graduation. In recognition, he and US Tool were honored as the State’s Employer of the Year for 2023.    

Through his work with the MAC Foundation and Industry and Education Partnership, Myers’ leadership and expertise have helped MAC expand its offerings of in-demand Industry and Technology programs and training facilities, including the newly opened Industry and Technology Center. His leadership efforts will have a lasting impact on Mineral Area College and the entire region as we see a more skilled workforce prepared to fill roles at companies throughout the area.

Myers is an active member of the community, having served on the Farmington Chamber of Commerce, UMSL Advisory Board, Missouri Association of Customized Training Board, and as a member of The Governor’s Missouri Training & Employment Council. He is the Vice President of the Farmington Industrial Development Authority, a member of The IDA of St Francois County, President of the Unitec Foundation, a member of the New Era Bank Board and Western Governors University Board, and was recently recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Farmington Chamber of Commerce.

Born and raised in Fredericktown, Myers graduated from Fredericktown High School in 1982 and is a proud Blackcat. He initially attended Missouri State University on a football scholarship, where he sustained a career-ending knee injury and transferred to the University of Missouri–Columbia, where he graduated with a degree in Business, Communications, and Social Behavioral Sciences in 1987.

He attended MAC for three summer semesters. He said he may not have graduated without the attention received in the smaller classes and the caring instruction he received at MAC.

Myers worked in Human Resources Leadership roles at Citicorp, MCI, and Commerce Bank in St. Louis before moving to Farmington, where he got his first experience as a manager at Little Tikes. He continued that path with Huffy Bicycles, The Molding Company, and then 13 years at the executive level with Centene Corporation, in St. Louis, retiring as Vice President of Human Resources in 2016.

It didn’t take long for Myers to realize retirement wasn’t for him, wanting to continue to contribute to the development of people, he joined US Tool in 2017, where he is currently the Vice President of Human Resources.

Myers has been married to his wife, De De, for 26 years. She is a MAC graduate, an elementary special education instructor and was honored as the 2022-23 Teacher of the Year in the DeSoto School District. They live in Farmington and are the proud parents of two cats, Lucy and Chester.