Stephen M. Lacy is an American retired magazine and media company executive. He served Executive Chairman of Meredith Corporation, a publicly traded publishing, broadcasting and interactive media firm based in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

from 2009 to 2019. He took over as CEO of Meredith from retiring president Bill Kerr on July 1, 2006, and has continued expanding Meredith's interactive division, overseeing the acquisition of four online media agencies, including

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

-based design firm O'Grady Meyers and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

-based New Media Strategies. Under Lacy's leadership, ad revenues for ''Better Homes and Gardens'' increased by nearly $100 million since 2002, described by the industry as "amazing for a 'mature' magazine." Lacy also drew praise for his December 2002 acquisition of the American Baby Group from

Primedia Primedia is a South African media group, headquartered in Sandton, Johannesburg. History Primedia was established in 1994 and its listing on the JSE Securities Exchange was completed in April 1995. Primedia remained listed on the JSE until 1 O ...

, opening up Meredith's access to moms, a magazine demographic key to Meredith's "family friendly" image. In 2003, ''

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in m ...

'' selected Lacy as its Publishing Executive of the Year at its annual conference. On January 15, Meredith announced via PR Newswire that Lacy would retire effective March 20, 2019, his 65th birthday.

Boards and chairmanships

Lacy is current chairman of the Direct Marketing Association and the Greater Des Moines Partnership. He also serves on the boards of the Magazine Publishers of America, the

Advertising Council The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-governme ...

, Kansas State University Foundation, and on the Iowa chapters of the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

, American Red Cross and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Lacy is also the president of the house corporation of the

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

Kansas Beta chapter, his college fraternity.

Personal life

Lacy was born in

Shawnee Mission, Kansas Shawnee Mission is a region of northern Johnson County, Kansas, part of the Kansas City metropolitan area in the United States. Since August 1, 1960, the United States Postal Service has used the name to denote a large postal coverage area ( ...

in 1954. He attended Kansas State University, earning a Bachelor's degree in Accounting in 1976. Lacy then earned his MBA from Kansas State in 1977.

References

External links

Steve Lacy corporate bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacy, Steve Living people American chairpersons of corporations American magazine publishers (people) American television executives Kansas State University alumni Meredith Corporation people Businesspeople from Des Moines, Iowa People from Johnson County, Kansas Businesspeople from Kansas 1954 births