C. Shelby Coffey III Named Executive Editor of Times
C. Shelby Coffey III will become executive editor of The Times effective April 11, Publisher Tom Johnson announced Monday.
Coffey, 41, deputy associate editor of The Times, will report to William F. Thomas, editor of The Times. In his new position, Coffey will have responsibility for all news departments except the editorial pages, which will continue to report to Thomas.
“Bill Thomas will retire in 1989 after 18 splendid years as editor,” Johnson said. “This announcement is being made now to provide for an orderly succession.
“Coffey was chosen after an extensive evaluation which involved several other extremely talented Times editors and other potential candidates around the country.”
Coffey graduated in 1968 from the University of Virginia. He joined the Washington Post in that year as a sports writer and subsequently became editor of the Post’s magazine, editor of its Style section, deputy managing editor and assistant managing editor for national news.
He became editor of U.S. News & World Report in 1985 and editor of the Dallas Times Herald in 1986, before joining The Times that year as deputy associate editor.
Coffey is married to Dr. Mary Lee Coffey, an emergency room physician at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. They have two children, Alison, 17, and Charles, 14.
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