Obama's ex-social secretary Rogers named Johnson Publishing CEO

Former White House social secretary Desiree Rogers, who resigned months after an uninvited couple crashed the Obama administration's first state dinner, was named Tuesday as chief executive officer at Johnson Publishing Company Inc.

The Chicago-based company, which publishes Ebony and Jet magazines, is the largest black owned and operated publisher.

Rogers, 51, had been consulting for Johnson Publishing for two months and took over daily operations on Tuesday, according to a company statement.

"Desiree has a proven track record of successful business leadership," said Johnson Publishing CEO Linda Johnson Rice, who remained chairman. "She is a longstanding confidant and a savvy businesswoman."

Rogers is a New Orleans native whose experience includes director of the Illinois Lottery, president of the Chicago area Peoples Gas and North Shores Gas and president of social networking at Allstate Financial.

Rogers, who has an MBA from Harvard University, stepped down from the White House position in February, months after Michaele and Tareq Salahi crashed the Obama administration's first state dinner. Rogers faced criticism for her role in the embarrassing incident.

Rogers didn't immediately respond to a request for comment through a company spokeswoman.