A Letter From the Publisher

By Richard B. Thomas

TIME maintains one of the largest newsgathering organizations of any U.S. publication: the magazine's news service includes eleven domestic and 22 overseas bureaus staffed by 90 correspondents. In a world where news seems to break faster and in more places each week, overseeing this network is a tall order. For the past 7 1/2 years, Assistant Managing Editor and Chief of Correspondents Richard Duncan has filled that order with energy and distinction. Beginning this week, Duncan will put his journalistic and managerial skills to work as TIME's chief administrative officer. As a deputy to Managing Editor Jason McManus, he will oversee the art, picture and operations departments and edit some sections. )

A veteran of 24 years in the news service, Duncan, 50, started as an editorial trainee in TIME's Washington bureau and served as a correspondent or bureau chief in several of the magazine's Western Hemisphere bureaus before becoming deputy chief of correspondents in 1975. Since he took over the top position in 1978, he has directed the magazine's coverage of two presidential elections and two Olympics, as well as the often staggering logistics of newsgathering for each week's issue.

Duncan has also participated in or helped run five TIME Newstours, in which corporate, civic and academic leaders are invited to travel as TIME guest journalists to countries that are in the news. Says Time Inc. Editor in Chief Henry Grunwald: "Dick's sharp news judgment and leadership have earned the professional respect and personal affection of his colleagues around the world. He is a journalist's journalist."

His replacement as chief of correspondents and new assistant managing editor is Henry Muller, 39. Brought up in Switzerland and San Francisco, Muller first worked for TIME as a campus stringer at Stanford, from which he graduated in 1968. After joining Time Inc. in 1970, he became a correspondent in Ottawa, Vancouver and Brussels successively and served as Paris bureau chief from 1977 to 1981, when he returned to New York City and became senior editor of the World section. Since then he has supervised TIME's past three Man of the Year cover stories and the special 1985 issue on immigration. Muller thus brings both extensive reportorial and editorial experience to his challenging new assignment.