Beth Fortune, a former gubernatorial press secretary and political reporter, has been named vice chancellor for public affairs, a position she has held on an interim basis for the past six months, Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos announced on Wednesday.

“My goal was to work hard to try to earn the job, and I’m very happy with the outcome,” said Fortune.

As vice chancellor for public affairs, Fortune will be the university’s chief spokesperson and will lead communications, government and community initiatives.

Fortune joined Vanderbilt in September 2000 to serve as associate vice chancellor for public affairs after serving as press secretary to former Gov. Don Sundquist for more than six years. She was promoted to an interim vice chancellor position in June after Michael Schoenfeld left the position for one at Duke University.

Fortune said she is planning on evaluating some aspects of her predecessor’s policies but that it would take a while.

“I’ve been a part of the Division of Public Affairs for eight years, and we’re a pretty sound operation, but there’s always room for improvement,” Fortune said.

According to Fortune, her background in journalism should be put to good use in a position that has her dealing with the media.

“Having a journalism background has helped me at every juncture of my career, and the time I spent as press secretary to the governor was invaluable in terms of dealing with crises, damage control, the media and many different constituencies,” Fortune said.