Patty Lewis  

A 1962 graduate of the Ole Miss School of Business Administration, Patty Lewis spent three years working for the Memphis-based National Cotton Council and its Maid of Cotton program. She then worked in the sales promotion division of the International Institute for Cotton in Brussels, Belgium.

Lewis of Oxford, Miss., has always been involved in community work and helped spearhead several projects, including building the new Lafayette County-Oxford Public Library. In addition, she served five-year terms on the Oxford School Board and the Oxford Tourism Council. One of Lewis' main passions is the arts. She has worked on numerous projects at the local, state and national levels, serving a term on the state's Friends of the Arts Commission and as director of the Metropolitan Opera National Council's auditions at the district level for 10 years. She is managing partner in an Oxford restaurant, the Downtown Grill.