A longtime public service professional, Frances Permenter Smith of Oxford, Mississippi, has committed to including the University of Mississippi in her estate plans in the form of a major gift that will benefit graduate students and faculty in the College of Liberal Arts.
Smith’s planned gift will also honor several generations of her own family who are Ole Miss graduates while establishing two endowments: the Frances Permenter Smith Faculty Support Endowment and the Permenter Family Legacy Graduate Support Endowment. These are the first endowments to serve these purposes without designation to a specific department or restriction. They will be dispersed at the discretion of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
Additionally, portions of her gift are designated to fund awards to programs her family members have enjoyed or deem important, including the Pride of the South Marching Band, Ole Miss baseball and women’s athletic programs.
“When it came time to update my will, it seemed logical to include a gift to the College of Liberal Arts. My degree is from there as are many of my family members; with cousins, we’ve got 26 Ole Miss Rebels and four generations,” said Smith, a 1974 UM graduate who majored in sociology.
“Through my involvement on the College of Liberal Arts Advisory Board and as co-chair of its Now and Ever Campaign Committee, I learned how critical these gifts are for the development and future of Ole Miss,” she continued. “Plus, it establishes a legacy memorial to honor the Ole Miss Rebel family members who so far have enrolled here, thrived as a result of attending and who deeply and dearly love Ole Miss.”
The purpose of the Frances Permenter Smith Faculty Support Endowment is to cover costs associated with, but not limited to, faculty research and creative activities within the College of Liberal Arts.
Smith said, while serving on the board, she found the faculty to be “so creative and dedicated” as she learned about their programs, goals and successes with students.
“For faculty to be able to enhance their teaching and the student experience, they need to conduct research and studies during the summer. This should not be a financial hardship for them,” the donor said. “I’m hoping the faculty support endowment sends a message to our educators that we see their value, appreciate what they give to our students and support their goals and research.”
Smith’s service to the university also enabled her to learn that maintaining its R1 Flagship status depends in part on graduate student recruitment and completed degrees.
“The College set an aggressive goal to increase those numbers, and I’m so proud of their success in that area the past few years,” Smith said.
“I want Ole Miss grad students to be the best of the best! Hopefully this gift (which provides stipends for graduate students) will enable the College to continue recruiting them to our campus and to strengthen our programs.”
College of Liberal Arts Dean Lee Cohen expressed gratitude for Smith’s support.
“Frances has long been one of the College of Liberal Arts’ most steadfast champions, and this extraordinary gift reflects both her vision and her heart,” the dean said. “She truly understands how transformative philanthropy can be for our faculty and graduate students, and her commitment has never wavered.
“By supporting faculty research and creative activity and graduate student recruitment and success, Frances is directly strengthening two areas that are critical to sustaining our R1 standing,” Cohen continued. “We are profoundly grateful for her generosity, leadership and enduring devotion to her alma mater.”
In 2024, Smith made a gift that established a scholarship endowment to provide financial support to College of Liberal Arts students seeking research opportunities in the U.S. and internationally — those participating in the university’s Study USA or Study Abroad programs.
In 2013, in memory of their parents, Smith and her three sisters also endowed a needs-based scholarship for College of Liberal Arts students.
“We all believe giving back is important,” Smith said at the time. “Where better than education?”
The donor grew up in Greenville and Gulfport, Mississippi, and followed her sisters to Ole Miss. She held various offices in her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and served on many ASB committees. But her interest in public affairs was sparked by her three years in the Campus Senate, being voted Senator of the Year her senior year. After graduating from Ole Miss, she secured her first job as an admissions counselor at her alma mater. Early in her career, she also worked in two statewide election campaigns.
Smith was a public affairs executive in a variety of public and private settings and spent 31 years in the telecommunications industry, serving as director of external affairs for Comcast before she retired in 2013. In that role, she was responsible for media relations, foundation grants, community events and franchise negotiations in Mississippi, Louisiana and South Alabama.
Prior to Comcast, she 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 Corp. and worked as vice president of public affairs and communications for the Time Warner Cable division office in Jackson.
Smith was a member of the premier class of Leadership Jackson, was twice named Communicator of the Year by the International Association of Business Communicators’ Mississippi chapter and selected for the first class of Top 50 Businesswomen in Mississippi. She was inducted into the cable industry’s Tower Club for outstanding service and received the Virgil Evans Lifetime Achievement Award from the Louisiana Cable Telecommunications Association.
She served as president of the Hinds County Economic Development District, Madison County Chamber of Commerce, Mississippi Cable Telecommunications Association and Friends of the Jackson Zoo and on the boards of numerous organizations. Inducted into the College of Liberal Arts Hall of Fame in 2023, she currently volunteers with the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.
Smith now resides in Oxford and, though no longer officially working in public relations, she remains hard at work as a proud ambassador of UM.
“The university does such amazing things for our students and the time to give is now,” she said. “Plus, it’s easier to ask others to give when you have made the commitment yourself.”
The Frances Permenter Smith Scholarship Endowment is open to support from businesses and individuals. Gifts can be made by sending a check to the University of Mississippi Foundation, with the fund’s name noted on the memo line, to 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS, 38655. Or click here to make a gift online.
For more information about supporting the College of Liberal Arts, contact Caroline Hourin, director of development, at cehourin@olemiss.edu or 662-915-6385.
For information about including the University of Mississippi in estate planning, click here or contact Marc Littlecott at marcplan@olemiss.edu or 662-915-6625.
By Bill Dabney/UM Foundation