Stephen Barr, President of SAGE International, has announced that he will be retiring at the end of 2020. As a result of his retirement and the decision of Katharine Jackson, Chief Operating Officer and CFO of SAGE International, to seek new opportunities, SAGE Publishing will undertake a reorganization of its senior management team on a global basis to better serve the teaching and research community through the next decade.

Stephen Barr joined SAGE in 1986 and has been instrumental in the development of the publishing program of SAGE London as an Editor, Editorial Director and, since 1996, Managing Director. In 2006, Stephen was appointed as President of SAGE International, with responsibility for SAGE India and for establishing SAGE Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. Since 2010, Stephen has also played a leadership role in creating and building SAGE’s global sales organization. Additionally, Stephen served as President of the UK Publishers Association in 2016-17.

Katharine Jackson joined SAGE in 2003 as Finance Director, became Deputy MD of SAGE London in 2006 and EVP COO for SAGE International in 2013. She has played a pivotal role in many of SAGE’s major acquisitions and alongside Stephen, has shaped the growth of SAGE International. Katharine has led the UK team and her energy and enthusiasm has been central to many organizational culture initiatives including our move to activity-based working and our diversity, equity and inclusion program. She has helped transform our global operations with the establishment of shared services for Finance and Customer Service in India.

Ziyad Marar, President, Global Publishing, will take responsibility for the sales organization alongside editorial, production and marketing, unifying the company’s global publishing strategy under him.

Karen Phillips, Senior Vice President, Global Learning Resources, will become the Executive Lead for the SAGE London office, responsible for maintaining the office’s dynamic culture.

The operations teams of SAGE London will report to Tracey Ozmina, COO of SAGE Publishing, and the Finance team will report to Chris Hickock, CFO of SAGE Publishing, both based in the company’s headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California.

Blaise Simqu, President and CEO of SAGE Publishing, said:

“I would like to thank both Stephen and Katharine for their enormous contributions over so many years to building SAGE into the global independent publishing company that we now are. Completing the globalization of SAGE Publishing’s senior management, while maintaining strong local cultures, will help SAGE become an even more effective publisher across the world as we work with faculty, librarians, authors, editors, and societies to support teaching and research in these challenging times.”

Stephen Barr said:

“Working to build SAGE’s global business and to continually strengthen our ability to support teaching, learning and research has been a richly satisfying career. Though I am leaving SAGE at a difficult moment for all organizations, I have enormous confidence in the future of the company and its ability to continue to adapt and develop. I would like to express my thanks to all those I have worked with over the last 35 years, both within SAGE and in the wider publishing and academic communities.”

Katharine Jackson said:

“We have been developing our people and systems across finance and operations for some time now. That investment in our dedicated global teams will ensure that this final phase of SAGE’s globalization is a success. I am looking forward to completing the transition and taking to my next role the experience of dynamic growth and business transformation which I have overseen at SAGE. It has been hugely rewarding to work with Stephen and so many accomplished and inspiring colleagues.”

The changes that have been announced will take effect from January 1st 2021.

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About SAGE Publishing

SAGE is a global academic publisher of books, journals, and a growing suite of library products and services.

Driven by the belief that social and behavioral science has the power to improve society, we focus on publishing impactful research and enabling robust research methodology. We produce high quality educational resources that support instructors to prepare the citizens, policymakers, educators, and researchers of the future. We publish more than 1,000 journals and 900 new books globally each year, as well as library products and services that include archives, data, case studies, and video. SAGE is majority owned by our founder, Sara Miller McCune, and after her lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures the company’s continued independence.

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