PERS Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS) is responsible for designating the System’s executive director, for investing all assets held by the System, and for carrying out the intent and purposes of the state legislature by establishing rules and regulations for the administration of PERS and the transaction of its business.
The 10-member Board includes the state treasurer, a gubernatorial appointee who is a member of PERS, two retirees, two state employees and one representative each of public schools and community colleges, IHL, counties and municipalities. With the exception of the state treasurer and the gubernatorial appointee, members are elected to staggered six-year terms.
Current Board Members
 Bill Benson Bill Benson is chancery clerk of Lee County. He has a degree in accounting from the University of Mississippi. Prior to his service as chancery clerk, he served as Monroe County administrator and in the State Auditor’s Office. |
 Virgil F. Belue, Ed.D. Virgil F. Belue, Ed.D., is a retired superintendent of Clinton Schools (1970-1992). Prior to his work in Clinton, he served in the United States Air Force, taught elementary school in the Tishomingo County Schools, taught English and social studies in the Pontotoc County Schools, and taught social studies in the Tupelo Public Schools, where he also worked as counselor and director of instruction. In addition to his work in public schools, Belue taught undergraduate and graduate courses for Mississippi State University and Mississippi College. Belue earned an Associate of Arts degree from Northeast Mississippi Junior College and a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Education, and a Doctor of Education from Mississippi State College/University. He also did graduate work in guidance and counseling at the University of Mississippi and Mississippi College. Before retiring, he had “A” and “AA” teacher certification in social studies and “AAAA” certification in school administration and school guidance and counseling. Currently, Belue is active in the Mississippi Retired Public Employees' Associations, Retired Education Personnel of Mississippi, Clinton Association of Retired Educators, and Clinton Chamber of Commerce. |
 Edward Lee Childress, Ed.D. Edward Lee Childress, Ed.D., is superintendent of Corinth School District. Prior to becoming superintendent, Childress worked as assistant superintendent for Corinth School District, director of school improvement for DeSoto County Schools, program manager for the School Executive Management Institute with the Mississippi Department of Education, and a social studies teacher for Clarksdale High School. Childress currently serves on the Mississippi Department of Finance State and School Employees’ Health Insurance Advisory Council, University of Mississippi North Mississippi Education Consortium Board of Directors, Mississippi State University Program for Research and Evaluation in Public Schools Project Advisory Committee, Mississippi Association of School Superintendents, American Association of School Administrators, Northeast Mississippi Superintendents Association, and Regional Education Service Association. |
 Lynn Fitch Lynn Fitch is Treasurer of Mississippi. She holds both a Bachelors of Business Administration and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi. Fitch previously served as executive director of the Mississippi State Personnel Board and as deputy executive director of External Affairs and Support Services at the Mississippi Department of Employment Security. She has also worked as a bond lawyer with Mississippi Business Finance Corporation and Mississippi Department of Economic Development; counsel for the Mississippi House of Representatives, Ways and Means Committee and Local and Private Legislation Committee; and as Special Assistant Attorney General with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office representing the State Bond Commission, Department of Banking and Consumer Finance, Department of Economic and Community Development, Department of Finance and Administration, and Office of the State Treasury. She has been named one of the 50 Leading Business Women in Mississippi and to the inaugural class of Leadership in Law by the Mississippi Business Journal. |
 Cecil L. Hill, Ph.D. Cecil L. Hill, Ph.D., is an associate professor of accounting at Jackson State University. He has been a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for more than 25 years and has completed the Certificate of Achievement in Public Plan Policy (CAPPP) in Employee Pensions. He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, American Accounting Associate (AAA), Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Institute, and West Jackson Rotary Club. He previously taught accounting at Mississippi Valley State University and Delta State University. He holds a bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in accounting from Jackson State University and a Master’s of Professional Accountancy from the University of Southern Mississippi. |
 Thomas J. Lariviere Thomas J. Lariviere is fire chief of Madison, Mississippi. Lariviere serves as the chairman of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, Mississippi State Fire Code. He has served as fire inspector for the city of Ridgeland and was in the U.S. Marine Corps. Lariviere holds many certifications including Certified Residential Plumbing and Mechanical Inspector (ICC), Certified Fire Inspector II (National Fire Service). He is a member of the National Fire Protection Association and International Association of Fire Chiefs. He also holds the position of associate instructor at the Mississippi State Fire Academy and is a member of the Mississippi Emergency Degree Advisory Committee at Meridian Community College. |
 Edwin C. LeGrand III Edwin C. LeGrand III is the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. He also has served the agency as deputy director and director of the Bureau of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and was the director of the Hudspeth Regional Center from 1982-1995. LeGrand began his career with the agency in 1974 at the North Mississippi Regional Center (NMRC), where he served in many capacities, including personnel director/assistant director and director of the Education Department. LeGrand received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Mississippi, during which time he worked as a Direct Care worker at NMRC. He is also a graduate of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government. LeGrand is active in numerous professional organizations, including the Mississippi Certified Public Managers Society, Mississippi Chapter of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and Mississippi Chapter of the Association of Mental Health Administrators. He currently serves on the State Rehabilitation Board and the Advisory Board for Mississippi’s Certified Public Managers Program. LeGrand holds several professional licenses and certifications including Certified Public Manager, Licensed Nursing Home Administrator, Licensed Mental Health/Mental Retardation Administrator, Certified Mental Retardation Therapist, and Certified Mental Health Therapist. |
 H.S. “Butch” McMillan H.S. “ Butch” McMillan is currently the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services. He previously worked as a Certified Public Accountant with the national accounting firm Touche Ross, now Deloitte, and was sole proprietor of Little Apookta Farms. From 1980-1992, he served the citizens of Attala and Montgomery counties as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives. He began his career with the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services in 1993, first as director of Administrative Services then as executive director in 1997. McMillan is a graduate of Mississippi State University with a Bachelor of Science in accounting. He completed the Certified Manager Program in 2002 and is a graduate of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government. McMillan is the president of National Rehabilitation Association, past president of the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation. He also serves on the State Workforce Investment Board, the Disability Resource Commission, and the State Rehabilitation Council. McMillan is a recent graduate of Tulane University’s South Central Public Health Leadership Institute. |
 Richard C. Miller, M.D. Richard C. Miller, M.D., is a retired pediatric surgeon, distinguished professor, and medical director from University Medical Center. He holds a degree from Harvard Medical School, and he served in the United States Air Force. Along with being director of the Mississippi Retired Public Employees’ Association, Miller previously served on the PERS Board of Trustees as an institutions of higher learning representative from 1992 to 2008, serving on several committees and as Board chairman. |
 Jack Wilson Jack Wilson is deputy counsel to Governor Phil Bryant. He previously practiced with the law firms of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Jackson, Mississippi, and Mayer Brown LLP in Washington, D.C., and served as a law clerk for Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Mississippi’s Patterson School of Accountancy. |