O’Neil chair Vamos leaving SMU at end of academic year

Mark Vamos, the O’Neil Chair in Business Journalism at Southern Methodist University, is leaving the program at the end of the 2018-19 academic year.

Vamos and his wife are returning to New York. His wife, Leslie Eaton, has accepted a new job as senior editor at The Marshall Project in New York.

“SMU will launch a national search, to take place the next academic year… Somebody great should get this job, which is probably the best I’ve ever had,” said Vamos in a message.

The O’Neil program is an interdisciplinary program that combines study in journalism and business.

In addition to running SMU’s business journalism program, Vamos also coordinated the ongoing William J. O’Neil Lecture Series in Business Journalism, a program that each semester brings outstanding business journalism professionals to the SMU campus.

Vamos, who joined the SMU faculty in 2007, joined Fast Company in 2003 and served as executive editor for two years before becoming editor-in-chief. He oversaw the redesign and re-launch of the business monthly.

From 1999-2002, Vamos served as deputy editor and then editor-in-chief of SmartMoney.com, running all of the editorial operations of the National Magazine Award-winning website, which focuses on real-time market news, investing and personal finance.

From 1997-99, Vamos was senior editor of Newsweek, where he directed the magazine’s coverage of business and personal finance.

Prior to joining Newsweek, Vamos spent 13 years at BusinessWeek, where he held various positions in editing, reporting and writing. He served as senior editor from 1990-1997, managing core corporate coverage, directing the BusinessWeek/Harris Poll and overseeing coverage of the first Gulf War.