Jackson native and Food Network Iron Chef Cat Cora has been selected the spokeswoman for The Catfish Institute, TCI President Roger Barlow announced Friday.

Cora will appear in a yearlong advertising campaign with some of her favorite catfish recipes in such magazines as Gourmet, Fine Cooking, Chef and others.

“The Catfish Institute is proud to welcome Cat Cora, a delightful and influential culinary celebrity, into the U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish family,” Barlow said in a statement.

In 2005, Cora made television history on Food Network’s Iron Chef America as the first and only female Iron Chef. In November 2006, Bon Appetit Magazine bestowed her with their Teacher of the Year Award, which she calls the greatest recognition she could achieve as a chef. That same month, she was also honored with another great culinary distinction when she was named Bon Appetit’s Executive Chef.

Cora was raised in a small Greek community in Jackson and now makes Napa, Calif. her home.