Veteran Public Relations Expert and Advocate for Community and UM Excellence
Frances Permenter Smith grew up in Greenville and Gulfport, Mississippi, the youngest of four girls. She was a member of the Gulfport East High School class of 1970 and followed in the footsteps of her 3 older sisters, entering the University of Mississippi as a freshman. She received a BA in Sociology with minors in Psychology and English in 1974 and secured her first job after college as an admissions counselor at UM.
Mrs. Smith has had a varied career, from public information positions at the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District and Pearl River Basin Development District to press aide in the Lt. Governor’s office. She was also a high-volume marketing representative for Xerox Corporation. She served as Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications for the Time Warner Cable division office in Jackson, and later Director of External Affairs for Comcast where she was responsible for media relations, foundation grants, community events, and franchise negotiations in Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Alabama. She retired in 2013 as Director of External Affairs for Comcast.
Mrs. Smith was a member of the premier class of Leadership Jackson and was president of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce. She was twice named ‘Communicator of the Year’ by the International Association of Business Communicators/MS Chapter', ‘Top 50 Businesswomen in Mississippi', inducted into the cable industry’s ‘Tower Club’ for outstanding service, and received the Virgil Evans Lifetime Achievement Award from the LA Cable Telecommunications Association. She served as president of the Hinds County Economic Development District, Mississippi Cable Telecommunications Association, and Friends of the Jackson Zoo, and as a Board Member of numerous organizations. She was inducted into the College of Liberal Arts Hall of Fame in 2023. In addition to her service on the Advisory Board, she is co-chairman of the College of Liberal Arts Now and Ever Steering Committee, House Board Vice-President for Kappa Kappa Gamma, and volunteers at the Ford Center for Performing Arts.
Frances now resides in Oxford, and though not officially working in public relations any longer, she is still hard at work as a proud ambassador of UM.