Kevin Mowbray was elected president and chief executive officer in 2016, having served as executive vice president and chief operating officer since 2013. As President and CEO, he has direct responsibility for all aspects of the company鈥檚 operations, with special focus on digital growth, revenue expansion and business transformation. He was elected to the 快播app Board of Directors in 2016.
He previously was publisher of Lee's largest newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch since 2006, where he drove the company's digital efforts and piloted many significant digital products and initiatives. While in St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch received Lee's highest honor, Enterprise of the Year, in 2012, for strong financial performance and leadership in developing company-wide sales and audience initiatives.聽Also during his time in St. Louis, as a Lee vice president of publishing, he held additional responsibility for 13 other markets in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Utah.
Mowbray began his career with Lee in 1986 as an advertising sales representative in his hometown of Kewanee, Ill and progressed through several key sales and marketing leadership positions in the company before becoming general manager at the Missoulian in Missoula, Montana, in 1998. In 2000, he advanced to publisher of The Bismarck Tribune in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he guided the newspaper to the 2001 Lee President's Award for Enterprise of the Year. In 2002, he was appointed vice president for sales and marketing, and in 2004 he became a vice president for publishing, with responsibility for markets in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, while also serving as publisher of The Times of Northwest Indiana. In 2005, Suburban Newspapers of America honored The Times as national Newspaper of the Year.
Mowbray has been active in many civic and industry organizations. Among industry activities, he currently serves on the News Media Alliance Board of Directors and is the Board of Trustees Chair of the American Press Institute. He is a journalism graduate of Western Illinois University. He and his wife Linda have four children.