WSJ names editor of Off Duty section

Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson sent out the following staff announcement on Thursday afternoon:

Ruth Altchek has formally become Editor of the Off Duty section, which she and the team have fashioned into a formidable part of our extremely successful Saturday paper. Ruth joined The Wall Street Journal in June 2010 as a news editor working with Deborah Needleman with a remit to create a superior, idiosyncratic Weekend section– that remit has been more than realized.

Before joining the Journal, Ruth held several editing positions, including editorial projects director and features editor at Domino magazine. She spearheaded special issues and packages that received National Magazine Award nominations from the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME), and was a contributor to Domino: The Book of Decorating.

After Domino, she was senior editor at Martha Stewart Living from March 2009 to April 2010, where she helped launch the magazine’s new product section. She has held editorial positions with I.D and Art on Paper, and written on design, architecture and style for Veranda and Architectural Record, among other publications.

Born in New York City, she graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in Art History and lives in Brooklyn. Ruth will continue to report to Deborah Needleman.

Please join me in congratulating and lauding the editorially exalted Ruth.