IHMC receives Medallion Award for hiring and recruiting military veterans

Published 11.10.21

The U.S. Department of Labor announced on Wednesday that the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition has received a 2021 HIRE Vets Medallion Award for the research center’s commitment to employing veterans.

The Medallion Award is the only federal-level veterans’ employment award that recognizes a company or organization’s commitment to recruiting, hiring, and retaining veterans. IHMC joins 848 other companies and organizations across the country who also were recognized for hiring veterans and providing them with career opportunities that take advantage of the diverse skills they acquired during military service.

“I’m a Navy veteran and so many of the other people who were part of IHMC’s beginning are also veterans,” said IHMC founder and CEO Ken Ford.

Between its Pensacola and Ocala branches, nearly 13% of IHMC’s new hires last year were veterans. IHMC’s Associate General Counsel Stephanie Tillery coordinated IHMC’s submission for the HIRE Vets Medallion Award.

“To be considered for the award, an entity must meet a seven percent hiring requirement, and we greatly exceeded that high standard,” she said. “We submitted our hiring and retention percentages and demonstrated that IHMC values our veterans and provides ample support and resources.”

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.