Mississippi Public Broadcasting's board of directors unanimously appointed Judy Lewis, 59, as its new executive director last week. Lewis, a native Mississippian from Morton, holds a doctorate in higher education from the University of Mississippi and a bachelor's and master's degree in education and speech communication from Mississippi College. She succeeds Marie Antoon, who announced her retirement in May, and will begin her new job Aug. 1.

"Judy Lewis has extensive experience in the field of education and the kind of public service background that will help MPB and its staff rise to the next level," Antoon said in an MPB release. "Not only is she a native Mississippian, but she has experience in the international arena, which makes her an exceptional choice to lead our state's public broadcasting network."

Lewis' international experience is as director of the United Nations World Food Program's U.S. Relations Office in Washington. In that position, she was responsible for advising Congress and the Administration on humanitarian and development issues important to U.S. foreign policy. She also served in several executive capacities for the World Food Program, overseeing complex emergency operations in 10 African country offices with an international staff providing assistance to more than 12 million people suffering from hunger.

Closer to home, Lewis was an associate professor of communication and theater at Mississippi College since 2007.

"I am first and foremost an educator and since education is at the heart of our mandate at MPB, I am very comfortable in accepting this challenge," Lewis said in the statement. "MPB has a bright future, and I am humbled to have been selected to be part of that future. Marie Antoon is leaving a wonderful legacy at MPB. I am thrilled, while at the same time very cognizant of the fact that the bar for excellence has been set."

In her other teaching posts, Lewis served as an adjunct professor at the U.S.D.A. Graduate School and George Mason University, as an assistant professor at Troy State University, and as a special assistant in the Department of Postsecondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Lewis has also traveled extensively during her tenure with the UN World Food Program.