Richard Stengel

Managing Editor

Richard Stengel is the managing editor of TIME, which has 50 million readers worldwide. He oversees the domestic, international and tablet editions of the magazine, TIME.com, mobile and TIME for Kids. He was named TIME’s 16th managing editor on May 17, 2006.
 
Among his other notable achievements, Stengel collaborated with Nelson Mandela on Mandela’s best-selling 1993 autobiography,Long Walk to Freedom, and later served as co-producer of the 1996 Oscar-nominated documentary Mandela.

Under Stengel, TIME has received numerous awards, including Magazine of the Year from the American Society of Magazine Editors in 2012. The award, the industry’s top honor, recognizes excellence both in print and on digital platforms.

In addition to his work on Long Walk to Freedom, Stengel has written several books, including Mandela’s Way; January Sun: One Day, Three Lives, A South African Town; and You’re Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery. He is a member of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism’s Board of Advisers and the board of trustees of City Year, an organization that promotes national service.

Stengel has a long history with TIME, having served as the magazine’s national and culture editor as well as the editor of TIME.com. Most recently, he interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and has traveled in the Middle East with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As a senior writer and essayist, he covered the 1988 and 1996 presidential campaigns.

Stengel has also written for the New Yorker, the New Republic and the New York Times. In 1998 he taught a course at Princeton called Politics and the Press before moving on to a very different arena in 1999 as a senior adviser and chief speechwriter for presidential candidate Bill Bradley.
 
Previously, Stengel was president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a museum, education center and think tank on Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

Stengel graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University in 1977 and played on its 1975 National Invitation Tournament–winning basketball team. As a Rhodes scholar he studied English and history at Christ Church, Oxford. A native New Yorker, Stengel is married to Mary Pfaff. They have two sons.

Updated July 30, 2012