Dr. Marquita Smith is associate dean for graduate programs and research at the University of Mississippi. She is a former Fulbright Scholar, who has lived and worked in Ghana and Liberia. As a Knight International Journalism Fellow, Smith created a judicial and justice reporting network in Liberia which continues to operate. She has more than 14 years of experience in higher education, and more than 15 years as an award-winning journalist. As a former head of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Commission on the Status of Minorities, Smith’s research interests include health communities and ways media impact and inform underrepresented communities.