The Public Works Leader of the Year award seeks to inspire excellence and dedication in public service by recognizing the outstanding career service achievements of individual public works professionals and officials, from both the public and private sectors. The primary focus of the award is on career service to the public works profession rather than on any one single event or project.
| 2000 | Ken Stumpf | Black and Veatch |
| 2001 | Ron Kadane | Clayton Engineering |
| 2002 | Glenn Smith | Horner & Shifrin |
| 2003 | David Hamilton | Shafer, Kline & Warren, Inc. |
| 2004 | Josephine Emerick | URS Corporation |
| 2006 | J. Kensey Russell | Shafer, Kline & Warren |
| 2007 | Steve Skasick | EDM Corporation |
| 2012 | Henry Schmidt | Missouri Petroleum |
| 2015 | Tony Russo | Trekk |
| 2016 | Jason Dohrmann | HR Green |
| 2017 | Colleen West | Corrective Asphalt Materials |
| 2018 | Mike Hartman | Missouri Petroleum |
| 2019 | Brandon Atchison | Missouri Asphalt Pavement Association |
| 2020 | Steve Stumpf | HR Green |
| 2021 | Ramin Ashrafzadeh | Horner & Shifrin |