HATTIESBURG — Kevin Cooper, publisher of The Natchez Democrat and vice president of Boone Newspapers Inc., was inducted into the University of Southern Mississippi School of Mass Communication and Journalism Hall of Fame Thursday.

Cooper was one of seven living alumni inducted. Three journalists were inducted posthumously.

Cooper is a 1993 USM graduate who began his journalism career as a photographer in Natchez and then at The Sun Herald in Biloxi. He also worked as editor of The Natchez Democrat and publisher of The Ironton (Ohio) Tribune.