The NCR board of directors announced July 13 it has appointed NCR editor Thomas C. Fox as the company’s new publisher. The move follows the May 26 death of NCR publisher and editor in chief Joe Feuerherd.
This is the third time the 67-year-old Fox -- who began writing for NCR in 1966 and became editor in 1980 -- will serve as NCR publisher, the second in a time of transition.
Fox will hold the position of publisher until a new, permanent publisher is chosen. With Fox’s appointment, the NCR board also announced it has begun a search for a new publisher and company CEO.
“We are grateful to Tom for his long commitment to NCR and his willingness to serve where he is needed,” said Annette Lomont, chair of the NCR board. “Tom is ‘Mr. Continuity,’ the face of NCR. He embodies everything NCR stands for -- professionalism, integrity, fairness and openness. He’s also a proven manager who has created a working environment that is collaborative and respectful.”
Fox began his journalism career writing for NCR in Vietnam during the war. At that time he was with International Voluntary Services working with villagers displaced by the war. His first reports documented the plight of Vietnamese during the war.
Fox became NCR editor in 1980, a post he held until 1997 when he was appointed NCR publisher. He had previously served as publisher in the mid-1980s when the company was engaged in a search for a new publisher.
Fox retired in 2005, but was asked to return two-and-a-half years later as interim editor, again at a time when the paper’s leadership was in flux. When Feuerherd was appointed publisher and editor in chief in October 2008, he asked Fox to stay on as editor.
“I feel like an old shoe or maybe a utility infielder who keeps coming out of retirement,” said Fox, adding there is a lot of good, healthy energy within the company and that he hopes to build on that energy.
“We’re still feeling Joe’s loss,” Fox said. “But he is with us in spirit and there’s a lot of comfort in knowing that.”
