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| Annette Thomas |
The UK's Guardian Media Group has named academic publishing veteran Annette Thomas CEO effective March.
The former chief of Macmillan's science and education group will succeed interim CEO Anna Bateson, who assumed that post in November following the exit of David Pemsel to run the Premier League. Bateson will return to her chief customer officer job.
Thomas, a Washington, DC native who has lived in the UK for the past 25 years, holds a PhD from Yale University in cell biology and neuroscience. She began her publishing career as an editor of the science journal, Nature.
GMG chair Neil Berkett said Thomas has an exceptional track record and has "consistently delivered sustainable growth through deep engagement with end-users, championing innovative new business models with more open access to content and data, and building diverse and inclusive management teams.”
The parent of the Guardian and Observer newspapers turned an operating profit last year for the first time in many years, driven by increased contributions from readers.
Thomas oversaw the merger of Macmillan's science and education group into Germany's Springer and most recently ran the education data business Web of Science leading up to its IPO.
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