Boston Globe Editor Brian McGrory stepping down after a decade at the helm

Brian McGrory is stepping down as editor of The Boston Globe to head Boston University's journalism program.

McGrory grew up in Boston and delivered the Globe on his paper route as a kid. He worked as a Globe reporter and columnist for more than 20 years before succeeding Marty Baron as top editor in 2012.

McGrory is also the author of four thriller novels and a memoir.

"For me, this was an honor on top of an honor," McGrory told his colleagues at the Globe. "But 10 years is enough. I’m proud of what our newsroom accomplished, and the Globe will benefit greatly from the fresh perspectives of a new editor.”

During McGrory's tenure, the Globe expanded its digital subscriptions. It launched STAT, a digital news service focused on heath and biotech and co-launched The Emancipator, a news site focused on racial justice. It also moved its headquarters from Dorchester to downtown Boston.

McGrory oversaw an ownership change shortly after his editorship began. In 2013, the New York Times Company sold the Globe to John and Linda Henry. Linda Henry later became the Boston Globe Media Partners group's CEO, which includes the Boston Globe, STAT, The Emancipator, and Boston.com. John Henry, through Fenway Sports Group, is the principle owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club, and holds shares in other sports and entertainment ventures around the world.

"As editor, Brian has led with humanity and empathy, steering the Globe's coverage through a decade of some of the biggest and most challenging stories in our region’s history and of our time," Linda Henry said in a written letter to the Globe's staff.

Ann Marie Lipinski, the curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard and the former editor of the Chicago Tribune, said McGrory led a regional paper during a particularly turbulent time for local news. According to a report from Northwestern University’s Medill School, the U.S. has lost 2,500 newspapers since 2005 and is still losing an average of two papers per week.

"These great metro dailies have been at risk all over the country and a lot of them have suffered tremendously from economic changes," Lipinski said. "But the Globe has done really well on Brian's watch and that's a credit to his skill as an editor."

McGrory plans to stay on through the end of this year or until the next editor is appointed. Henry said an extensive search for a new editor is already underway.