Business News
Evan Smith Named President and Editor-in-Chief of TEXAS MONTHLY
Thursday 17. July 2008 - Veteran editor to succeed outgoing founder and publisher Michael R. Levy
Emmis Publishing L.P., a wholly owned subsidiary of Emmis Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:EMMS), today announced the appointment of Evan Smith as president and editor-in-chief of TEXAS MONTHLY. In taking the helm of the magazine, Smith succeeds founder and publisher Michael R. Levy, who announced in May that he will retire on August 31. Smith assumes his new duties on September 1.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Evan is the perfect choice,” said Levy. “He will do a phenomenal job going forward, taking the magazine my colleagues and I created in 1973 and making it even stronger. The state of Texas and our phenomenal staff will be well served by Evan’s vision and leadership. The magazine is in great hands.”
“TEXAS MONTHLY has a distinguished history, one that was created and sustained by Mike Levy,” said Gary Thoe, president of Emmis Publishing. “We’re pleased that Evan will now lead into the next era what has become one of the country’s finest publications. He is the ideal steward for TEXAS MONTHLY.”
Evan Smith joined the staff of TEXAS MONTHLY as a senior editor in January 1992. In February 1993, he was promoted to deputy editor and in July 2000 was promoted to editor. In May 2002, he added the title of executive vice president of TEXAS MONTHLY. “TEXAS MONTHLY has been my home for more than 16 years, and in that time it’s been an honor to work alongside our extraordinary staff and for my great friend, Mike Levy,” said Smith. “There’s no replacing Mike, but I’ll do everything I can to preserve his legacy and take the magazine he loved so much to new and loftier heights.”
During Smith’s tenure as editor, TEXAS MONTHLY has been nominated for 14 National Magazine Awards, the magazine industry’s equivalent of the Pulitzer prize. In April 2003, TEXAS MONTHLY was awarded the National Magazine Award for General Excellence for the third time in its history.
A graduate of Hamilton College (Clinton, New York) with a bachelor’s degree in public policy and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) with a master’s degree in journalism, Smith previously held editorial positions at a number of national magazines, including The New Republic, where he was deputy editor. Since 2003, he has hosted TEXAS MONTHLY TALKS, an interview program that airs weekly on all PBS stations in Texas.