Date June 15, 2018
Media Contact

Award-winning journalist, editorial leader to lead Brown Alumni Magazine

Pippa Jack, an accomplished storyteller who is currently editor-in-chief of a 120,000-circulation alumni magazine, selected from a pool of candidates from leading commercial and alumni magazines across the country.

Pippa Jack
Editor and publisher: As a former staff member in the Division of Advancement and the granddaughter of a 1926 Brown alumna, incoming Brown Alumni Magazine editor and publisher said she feels deep connections to the University.
Nora Lewis

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Pippa Jack, an award-winning journalist and editorial leader who is the current editor-in-chief of the University of Rhode Island’s 120,000-circulation alumni magazine, will become the next editor and publisher of Brown Alumni Magazine (BAM).

Effective July 9, Jack will lead the editorial, production and advertising staff of Brown’s flagship magazine, which circulates bimonthly to more than 115,000 alumni and parents and has been in print since 1900.

Vice President for Communications Cass Cliatt, to whom the editor and publisher reports, said that Jack is an exceptional writer and editor who will deliver engaging stories for Brown’s alumni. She also possesses the leadership required in a role that combines responsibility for the magazine’s business operations.

“I am tremendously excited about the exceptional editorial talent, unbound energy and innovative leadership Pippa will bring to Brown’s flagship alumni publication,” Cliatt said. “Her comprehensive and deep knowledge of all aspects of magazine publishing will help sustain and build upon the long tradition of excellence at the BAM.”

As editor-in-chief of URI’s QuadAngles Alumni Magazine since 2014, Jack has re-invigorated the operations and production of the alumni magazine during a time when magazines are being compelled to re-imagine themselves in the context of new technologies, shifts in revenue sources and evolving readership patterns. In 2017, the magazine landed two excellence awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

A search committee of alumni, University leaders and prominent commercial magazine editors led by Cliatt selected Jack for the unique balance of experience and skills she brings to the position.

Committee member Dana Cowin — a Brown Class of 1982 graduate, former editor-in-chief of Food & Wine magazine and chair of the BAM Board of Editors — said that Jack rose to the top of a pool of strong candidates from leading commercial and alumni magazines across the country.

“Pippa is a courageous editor in the long tradition of editors who have stewarded this editorially independent magazine over 118 years,” Cowin said. “She is, at the same time, a strong collaborator who will work with colleagues across Brown University to authentically capture the news of the institution that helps alumni remain knowledgeable about and deeply connected to their alma mater.”

Prior to joining URI, Jack held lead editor and associate editor positions at the Block Island Times and Rhode Island Monthly magazine, spanning 13 years while she also freelanced as a magazine writer. She also worked for a year in Brown’s Division of Advancement. As the granddaughter of a 1926 Brown alumna, she said she feels deep connections to the University.

"I am delighted to have the honor of leading the Brown Alumni Magazine, which enjoys a legacy of communicating Brown’s distinctive and important place in U.S. higher education, as well as the often world-changing initiatives that Brown alumni, students and faculty undertake,” Jack said. "I look forward to engaging with readers and continuing the magazine’s mission of keeping alumni connected with each other and with Brown itself.”

Jack began her collegiate studies at Oxford University before ultimately earning her bachelor of science degree in news editorial from the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Journalism.

She will begin her role as editor and publisher on Monday, July 9, succeeding Norman Boucher, who retired in May after a distinguished 20-year tenure leading Brown’s alumni magazine.