Born in Little Rock, Arkansas to the late Rev. Lloyd H. Myers, a Baptist pastor and Mrs. Rachel A. Myers, a retired administrator with the Little Rock Public Schools, Deborah Mathis is a recognized media executive and respected journalist.

Mathis began her career in journalism in Little Rock as a reporter with the Arkansas Democrat Newspaper in 1971 specializing in legal and education reporting. She matriculated through the journalism industry, working as general assignment reporter at KTHV-TV in Little Rock; an anchor and reporter for WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C specializing in politics and social issues; an assistant news director for KARK-TV in Little Rock managing 34 news professional news coverage for four daily television broadcast; and as a special assignment reporter and anchor for KATV-TV also in Little Rock.

In 1987, Mathis was the field-producer, writer and narrator for two nationally aired documentaries: "Edukashun: The High Cost of Failure" (1982) and "Return of the Little Rock Nine" (1987).

From 1989-1991, as associate editor for the Arkansas Gazette Newspaper, Mathis was the first black and first woman to sit on the editorial board of the prestigious, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper. She authored thrice-weekly columns, two editorials per week, and one in-depth perspective piece per month. Among her signature news coverage, Mathis covered the Persian Gulf War for the Gazette Newspaper.

After the Arkansas Gazette Newspaper folded, Mathis joined the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi as a staff columnist, providing the only regular opinion columnist in Mississippi’s largest and only statewide daily newspaper.

Her journalistic expertise took Mathis nationally when she joined the Tribune Media Services in Chicago in 1992 as a national syndicated columnist authoring a twice-weekly column on myriad issues ranging from motherhood to welfare reform to nuclear proliferation.

Mathis media savvy and acumen advanced her career as a White House and National Correspondent for Gannett News Service in Washington, D.C. in 1993. In this capacity, Mathis covered the Clinton presidency, his Cabinet and the Congress in all areas, including foreign affairs.

In the fall of 2000 and the Spring 2001, Mathis was appointed as a Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard University researching and authoring a case study on the racial disparities in election coverage during the torrid presidential race of 2000. The resulting paper – "No Seat at the Table" – was the centerpiece of a June 2001 conference in Washington featuring former President Bill Clinton as keynote speaker.

Mathis later became Assistant Professor for Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism serving as program and managing editor providing graduate level instruction to students in all aspects of print and broadcast journalism with a concentration on coverage of the federal government. As managing editor, she directed coverage and editing of Washington and government issues/events for 24 client newspapers and online publications across the country.

No stranger to the national media circuit, Mathis is a contributing columnist with published commentary on issues of the day, appearing frequently in USA Today Newspaper and weekly on BlackAmericaWeb.com, the nation’s premier online news and public affairs publication of Black issues. Mathis also is a regular commentator on: "America’s Black Forum" and National Public Radio (NPR’s) "News and Notes with Ed Gordon" offering lively, informed opinions and discussion on the topics of the day. "America’s Black Forum" appears in 92 major American television markets; "News and Notes" is broadcast daily on NPR.

She has appeared on voluminous national and international TV shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, MSNBC’s Buchanan and Press, CNN’s Inside Politics, CNN’s Capital Gang Sunday, CNN’s Turkey, CNN’s Both Sides with Rev. Jesse Jackson, PBS’ Frontline, PBS’ Evening Exchange, PBS’ Inside Washington, PBS’ This Is America with Dennis Wholly, C-Span’s Journalists' Roundtable, C-Span’s Washington, ABC’s Good Morning America, America's Black Forum, Tavils Smiley Show, Ananda Lewis Show and FOX News’ The O’Reily Factor. Mathis is a best selling author of two books: "Yet A Stranger: Why Black Americans Still Don’t Feel at Home" (Warner Books, 2002) and "What God Can Do" (Atria Books, 2005).