Nion McEvoy, chairman and CEO of The McEvoy Group, joined Chronicle Books in 1986. He became editor-in-chief of the adult trade division until the acquisition of the company in February of 2000 by The McEvoy Group. He previously worked in the business affairs departments of the William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills and of Wescom Productions. McEvoy is currently chairman of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s (SAAM) Board of Commissioners and serves on the boards of Aperture, San Francisco Film Society, SFMOMA, and the UCSF Foundation. He is also on the accessions committees at SFMOMA and SAAM. McEvoy is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and of UC Hastings College of the Law.

Jack Jensen, president of The McEvoy Group, joined Chronicle Books in 1977 as sales representative for the western states after working as a retail bookseller for five years. At the time, Chronicle Books had only five employees and released twelve titles per year. As Chronicle Books grew, so did Jensen’s role and influence. He has served the company in a number of positions, including sales and marketing director, general manager, and, from 1991 to 2016, president of Chronicle Books. In 2017, Jensen was named president of The McEvoy Group, which owns Chronicle Books, Princeton Architectural Press, Galison/Mudpuppy, and I See Me!. Jensen has served on the faculties of the Stanford University Publishing Course for Professionals, the University of Denver Publishing Institute, and has been a presenter at the annual UCLA Entertainment Symposium. In addition he has served on the board of the Bay Area Book Council, and completed business courses in the Executive Education Program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Married with two children, Jensen received a BFA in Theater Arts from Fort Wright College. His favorite book is John Barth’s The Floating Opera.

Tom Fernald, executive vice-president and chief operating officer, joined Chronicle Books in 1998 as executive director. His first major project at Chronicle Books had great potential to be his last as the company was put up for sale shortly after he joined the company. Fortunately, The McEvoy Group prevailed as the successful acquirer, and the spirit of the company thrives to this day. Prior to joining Chronicle Books, Tom was vice president and publisher of Down East Books and Silver Quill, the book divisions of his family’s publishing company in Maine where he was responsible for all aspects of the book publishing program for ten years. He also worked in industrial construction management for several years early in his career where his daily interactions were far less pleasant than those he now enjoys in publishing. Somewhere in the middle of these years he spent an entire ski season at Vail Resort in Colorado working exceptionally hard at being a ski bum, but was ultimately unsuccessful at sustaining the lifestyle.

Abby Hoffman joined Chronicle Books in 1997 as Director of Sales before subsequently serving in other positions, first as Executive Director of Sales and Marketing, and later as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. In 2008 she took a role at the McEvoy Group as Vice President, focusing on new business development, acquisitions and strategic planning. Hoffman helped acquire Princeton Architectural Press, Galison/Mudpuppy and I See Me!, and was instrumental in the companies’ integration into to the McEvoy Group. She has overseen the development of several new business initiatives, including the growth of SmartLab Toys, MyChronicleBooks, and A&CB. An industry leader, she has been a speaker at the Stanford Publishing Course for Professionals. Prior to joining Chronicle Books and the McEvoy Group, Hoffman held key marketing positions at Macmillan Publishing, Exxon, and Taco Bell. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Business Administration and Marketing.

With a background in education, corporate training, and publishing, Todd Presley has worked in corporate management and human resources for over twenty years. Since he arrived at the organization in 2006, the McEvoy Group has acquired several new companies, growing from two to five. Under Presley’s leadership, the McEvoy Group has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in the Bay Area, and was honored as one of the Top 10 Best Book Publishing Companies to Work For in 2008. A certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), he maintains active memberships in the Society for Human Resource Management and the Northern California Human Resources Association. Presley graduated from Missouri State University with a BA in English and Spanish, and an MA in English. He also completed his PhD coursework in English Language and Literature at the University of Tulsa before moving into corporate training and development.