Boston Globe biz editor’s work was “extraordinary accomplishment”

Boston Globe editor Brian McGrory and editorial page editor Ellen Clegg sent out the following announcement:

It gives one of us pleasure, and fills the other with angst, that Mark Pothier has agreed to move from editor of the Business section to become Assistant Managing Editor/Sunday Op-Ed, where he will oversee the Sunday and Monday opinion sections and take a seat on the Globe’s editorial board.

It’s a great move for Mark, following his splendid oversight of our Business department for the past year-and-a-half – yes, a relatively brief period, but one filled with extraordinary accomplishment. He took Business from inside Metro to a full-throttle standalone section five days a week. In creating this new section, Mark led efforts to instill our coverage with a renewed urgency and creativity. He hired key staff. He helped create a new aesthetic. He inaugurated such strong components as Bold Types and the inside centerpiece. As important as anything else, he oversaw the coverage of Market Basket and TelexFree, which helped set a new standard for reporting on and writing about business at the Globe.

And we should also add, as virtually everyone already knows, that Mark is a world-class colleague, generous with his editing skills and encouraging of everyone in his department. Ellen never quite forgot this. She hired Mark some 13 years ago to work with her in the regionals, and has been lying in wait to steal him back for God only knows how long.

The rest, most of you already know. Rock star, check. Nieman fellow, yes. Husband, father, runner, mountain climber, and a prodigious writer for virtually all sections of the paper, his work always characterized by an uncommon level of thought. Sorry for the cliché, but the newsroom’s loss is Editorial’s gain.

In Mark’s new position, he will be asked to continue to bring in new voices and sharp commentary. Along with incoming Ideas editor Katie Kingsbury, Mark will be instrumental in re-envisioning our Sunday Ideas section. If that isn’t enough, Mark also promises to do even more writing from time to time. Mark will begin sometime in the early to middle part of March, date to be determined. In terms of Business, a search for a new editor begins now.

Those who’ve worked with Mark over the years in Business, they’ll miss him greatly. Those who are about to work with him, be prepared to be delighted. Give him your thanks and congratulations in the meantime.