Ricky Mathews

Ricky, a Gulf Coast and Mississippi champion of resilience, embodies a call to rise above storms through his media and community leadership. As president and publisher of The Sun Herald, The Press-Register, The Times-Picayune, and NOLA Media Group, he shaped impactful journalism. A partnership he formed at NOLA Media Group won a Peabody and two Edward R. Murrow Awards. After Hurricane Katrina, The Sun Herald's heroic coverage earned a 2006 Pulitzer Gold Medal for Public Service, fueling hope in crisis. Mathews worked with Governor Haley Barbour to form the Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal, serving as volunteer Vice Chairman and leading tourism recovery efforts. He also led oil recovery for Governor Riley's Coastal Recovery Commission as a volunteer after the Deepwater Horizon spill. His leadership earned the 2008 Spirit of the Coast Award as Coastal Mississippi's top volunteer, a National Award of Valor from the National Association of Minority Media Executives, and a U.S. President's Volunteer Service Award. Retiring in 2016, he joined SuperTalk Mississippi, hosting The Ricky Mathews Show and SuperTalk Outdoors, celebrating Mississippi's spirit. As publisher, he produced four books, including the New York Times bestseller Katrina: Eight Hours That Changed the Mississippi Gulf Coast Forever, and wrote the foreword for Barbour's book on Katrina recovery. A Halls of Fame member at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi, Mathews, a passionate advocate for Mississippi, resides on the Gulf Coast with his wife, Ann, father of three, and grandfather of four.