Ship’s Sponsors

Louisa O. Dixon was born in Stamford, Connecticut and graduated from Ohio State University and Creighton University School of Law. She held two judicial clerkships before moving to Washington, DC, where she practiced law at the Department of Energy and later worked for the John Glenn Presidential Campaign. From 1988 to 1992, she served as Commissioner of Public Safety for the State of Mississippi under Governor Ray Mabus.

From 2005 until her retirement from practicing law in 2018, Louisa concentrated on Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, initially managing reconstruction of child-care facilities and building two new pre-schools, and later focusing on housing reconstruction programs.   She is married to Jerry Johnson, an attorney.  Their son Ben works in Boston and lives in Melrose, Massachusetts with his wife Michaela and granddaughter Lillian Jane.

Virginia Thompson Munford attended Vanderbilt University, graduating in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Tulane University in 1979.

Ms. Munford practiced law at Watkins & Eager PLLC in Jackson, Mississippi from 1979 to 2009, specializing in environmental law and administrative practice. For the next 10 years until retirement, she worked as a partner at Corlew Munford & Smith PLLC in Jackson.  She was a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation and American Bar Foundation; served as Chair of Mississippi Bar Committees on the Delivery of Legal Services and Natural Resources, Environmental and Energy Law; and was leader of a special task force on pro bono services.

Ms. Munford has a long history of community service, volunteering with her church, area schools, libraries, and neighborhood associations.

She has been married to Luther Munford for 40 years. They have three children, Charlie, Margaret, and Mary Reid, and one granddaughter, Eva Sims Munford.

R. Pickett Wilson is a 1970 graduate of Starkville High School and has two degrees in Special Education from Mississippi State University (MSU). Ms. Wilson has been a Mississippi public school teacher and has served on the professional staff of MSU. From 1988 to 1992, she worked as Special Advisor for Education and Intergovernmental Relations to the Honorable Ray Mabus during his term as Governor of Mississippi.

Ms. Wilson has been a lifelong volunteer in and advocate for Mississippi’s public schools, mentoring and tutoring students, serving as a leader in numerous parent groups, and serving as president of her local school board. She and her spouse, William Locke, MD, reside in Starkville, Mississippi and Perdido Key, Florida. They have two sons, Wilson Locke and Barnes Locke.