Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Publisher Appoints New CEO

The Chronicle is marking an important leadership transition: Philip W. Semas, who founded The Chronicle of Philanthropy nearly 25 years ago, is retiring in May as chief executive and editor in chief of The Chronicle of Higher Education Inc.

Corbin Gwaltney, The Chronicle’s founding editor and chairman, announced on Wednesday that Mr. Semas will be succeeded by Michael G. Riley, editorial director of Bloomberg Government.

Early in his career, Mr. Riley was a correspondent for Time magazine in Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, and Atlanta. He was named Southern bureau chief at age 32. In a joint venture between Time and CNN, he created and managed allpolitics.com, one of the first national political Web sites.

For eight years Mr. Riley was editor of The Roanoke Times, where he re-engineered the news department to focus on Internet strategy and to foster rapid growth in online revenue. During his tenure, the newspaper won numerous awards for both its print and digital operations.

In 2007 Mr. Riley became editor and senior vice president of Congressional Quarterly. Following CQ-Roll Call’s acquisition by the Economist Group, he became editorial director of Washington-based Bloomberg Government.

“I am delighted that Mike is joining us,” said Mr. Gwaltney. “His combination of journalistic leadership, business acumen, and digital savvy is a perfect fit for our needs.”

Mr. Riley will oversee all of company’s publications, which include The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the Arts and Letters Daily Web site.

He praised The Chronicle’s reputation, describing it as one “built on fundamental journalistic values practiced for some 47 years.”

After focusing on coverage of Washington and government issues in recent years, Mr. Riley said he found the values embedded in Higher Education and Philanthropy “immensely attractive.”

“I believe the publications will act—as they have in the past—as a beacon for those who care deeply about the shape of our world,” he said.

Building Philanthropy

Mr. Semas has served as editor-in-chief since 2002 and as president since 2009, overseeing the company’s editorial and business operations.

In 1987, he took a leave of absence from The Chronicle of Higher Education to spend a year laying the groundwork for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, which began publication in October 1988. He was inspired to create the newspaper by what he perceived as a lack of coverage of nonprofit organizations by the nation’s newspapers and magazines.

He led The Chronicle of Philanthropy for seven years and created many of its signature editorial projects, including the Philanthropy 400, the annual ranking of the charities that raise the most private money. He later became The Chronicle’s new-media editor and was instrumental in creating Philanthropy.com.