BMJ is delighted to announce the appointment of Roger Horton as its new chair, effective from Monday 20 April 2020
BMJ is a global healthcare knowledge provider that publishes one of the world’s most cited general medical journals, The BMJ, as well as a portfolio of specialty journals and clinical decision support tools to help health professionals improve the quality of patient care. BMJ is owned by the British Medical Association (BMA), the trade union and professional body for doctors in the UK.
Roger Horton has extensive and broad experience from a successful career in academic and reference publishing for over thirty five years. He was the CEO of the Taylor & Francis Group, the academic publishing division of Informa Plc for the latter twelve years. His career has encompassed roles in sales, marketing, editorial, distribution and senior management in three companies.
He was instrumental in floating Taylor & Francis on the London Stock Exchange and later merging it with Informa in 2004. As CEO he also led the acquisition of over fifty companies and served on the Publishers Association academic board for a number of years.
For ten consecutive years, he was recognised as one of the 100 most influential people in publishing by the Bookseller. At the 2017 Academic and Professional Awards he was presented with the lifetime award for Outstanding Contribution.
Welcoming the appointment, Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, says: “Following a rigorous appointment process, it was evident that Roger was the best candidate for the job. Roger has a proven track record in academic publishing with a broad range of experience that will stand him in good stead as the new chair of the BMJ board. I look forward to working with him. I would also like to thank the previous chair, Jay Lippincott for his sterling work serving on the board over the last eight years.”
BMJ’s CEO Chris Jones says: “’I have recently joined BMJ and am pleased that the board has selected such a strong candidate. I am looking forward to working with Roger who shares my passion for everything that BMJ stands for. His expertise will play a vital role in taking BMJ to even greater success in the future and helping us to achieve our vision of a healthier world
Roger Horton comments: “I am delighted to be joining BMJ as chair. I have admired its reputation for many years, and am honoured to be associated with both the BMA and BMJ as they continue to work hard at making a real difference to those working in and associated with medicine and healthcare.”
Roger Horton will also take on additional responsibilities for the BMA board.