According to a press release we received from The Chronicle of Higher Education, Michael G. Riley has been named its new chief executive officer and editor-in-chief.

Riley will replace Philip W. Semas. He worked at The Chronicle for 44 years! The last 10 years of service were devoted to his job as president and editor-in-chief.

Riley’s most recent role has been editorial director at Bloomberg Government. As per the press release, prior to that job, he was editor and senior vice president of Congressional Quarterly.

In addition, his resume includes working at The Roanoke Times for eight years as editor. Early in his career he was a correspondent for Time in Los Angeles, Boston, Washington and Atlanta. Plus, in a joint venture of Time and CNN, Riley created and managed one of the first national political Web sites, www.allpolitics.com.

Corbin Gwaltney, founding editor and chairman of The Chronicle of Higher Education indicated in the release, “I am delighted that Mike is joining us. His combination of journalistic leadership, business acumen, and digital savvy is a perfect fit for our needs.”