HarperCollins has announced a series of executive-level personnel changes in conjunction with the departure of Suzanne Murphy, president and publisher of HarperCollins Children’s Books, who will leave the publisher at the end of the month.
Liate Stehlik, president and publisher of the Morrow Group, will now also serve as president and publisher of HarperCollins Children’s Books, adding the house's children’s division to her purview. In addition, Dan Schwartz has been promoted to executive v-p, CFO and head of North American operations. Matt Bennett, HC's global chief information officer, has been appointed to the company’s global executive committee, and will report to Schwartz. And Zandra Magariño, senior v-p and chief people officer, will now oversee real estate and employee health, safety, and security.
The changes are part of what HC CEO and president Brian Murray told PW earlier this year is an ongoing, year-long transformation process. Murray pointed to that effort in announcing the changes to the staff, saying HC is looking "to identify new ways to work smarter and more efficiently across North America and globally. To that end, we are clarifying and consolidating our executive leadership team. This new structure will allow us to implement key publishing, systems, and operational changes to confront current challenges and seize existing opportunities in our rapidly evolving industry.”
Murphy joined HC in 2015 and oversaw the integration of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's children's publishing program following HMH's acquisition by HC. Prior to her career at HC, Murphy served as v-p and publisher of Disney Publishing Worldwide and held roles at both Scholastic and Simon & Schuster. During Murphy's tenure, HC Children's has published authors including Elizabeth Acevedo, Becky Albertalli, Katherine Applegate, Victoria Aveyard, Jerry Craft, Soman Chainani, Kevin Henkes, LeBron James, Jory John and Pete Oswald, Erin Entrada Kelly, Terri Libenson, Tahereh Mafi, Sara Pennypacker, Adam Silvera, and Angie Thomas.
Stehlik has overseen the publishing operations for William Morrow, Mariner Books, Harvest, Avon, Dey Street, and Harper Voyager since 2018, and oversaw the integration of the HMH Books & Media adult publishing program. Under her leadership, the publisher said, the Morrow Group “has increased revenues 50% and profits approximately 20%.” Stehlik came to HC in 2005 as senior v-p and publisher of Avon in 2005 and was named publisher of Morrow in 2009. She sits on the board of Poets & Writers and the NYU Gallatin Publishing Program.
Schwartz joined HarperCollins in January as CFO, from Macmillan Publishers. In his new role, he will “add oversight of the company’s corporate operations functions, including IT, production, and distribution,” the publisher said.
