Ian Smith, chief executive of Reed Elsevier, announced his resignation after just eight months on the job. The company tapped Erik Engstrom, CEO, as his successor. Anthony Habgood, chairman at Reed Elsevier, said Smith “had the difficult task of leading Reed Elsevier during unprecedentedly turbulent economic times.” The publisher cited declines in “pharma promotion markets, reflecting fewer drug launches and a reduction in the marketing budgets of pharmaceutical companies” in an interim management statement.

Wiley-Blackwell sold off two quarterly titles—Cochlear Implants International and Deafness & Education International —to Maney Publishing. Silvana Marciano, professional journal publisher at Wiley-Blackwell, said in a statement that the divestiture will allow the company to “concentrate our resources on our larger subject areas.” Wiley-Blackwell is a subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons.

Wolters Kluwer Health appointed Anne Dabrow Woods to the newly created position of chief nursing officer. Wolters Kluwer hopes the move will strengthen the nursing strategy at Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and Ovid, Wolters Kluwer’s two health publisher subsidiaries.