Dr. Elayne Hayes Anthony has been named the first Black woman and educator to serve as president of the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters (MAB).

The acting Jackson State University president was given the role after her service as vice president of the association. She is the first Black individual to serve on the MAB’s board. She will replace Derek Rogers.

Dr. Anthony was appointed to her current position at JSU in March ahead of the resignation of former president Thomas Hudson.

The Jackson native was the first African-American female anchor, producer, and reporter for local television outlet WJTV.

Anthony is the former dean of Jackson State’s School of Journalism and chair of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies. Under her leadership, the department received national accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Additionally, she expanded their sequence offerings to include public relations and advertising, and added an additional radio station “The Sipp.” She also helped to garner close to $1 million in grants for WJSU.

A former tenured full professor at Belhaven University, Anthony is currently a tenured full professor at Jackson State. She has served on more than 15 accreditation teams for the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. Anthony was appointed to the Mississippi Education Task Force.

She was also appointed by former governors Haley Barbour and Phil Bryant to the Mississippi State Department of Health, where she serves on the Audit Committee, Certificates of Need, and Communication Committee.

Anthony will presume her role as MAB president at an unspecified date this fall.