NBC announced this afternoon that Mark Whittaker has joined the network’s news division as Senior Vice President…

Mark Whitaker, former Editor of Newsweek and veteran journalist of nearly three decades, will join NBC News as Senior Vice President. The announcement was made today by NBC News President Steve Capus. Whitaker will join NBC News on May 21, and will report to Capus.

“This is yet another terrific announcement for NBC News and our front office team,” said Capus. “Mark’s talents as a journalist are unparalleled virtually anywhere in the business. He brings not only a keen sensibility for the news, but also a real expertise in digital and online ventures. He’s exactly the type of person I’ve been looking for to bolster our executive ranks.”

Whitaker will serve as the second-in-command within NBC News and have oversight of NBC News’ daily editorial and newsgathering efforts worldwide. He will provide continuity between newsgathering operations and individual broadcasts and new media. He will also be responsible for NBC News division-wide editorial specials and will help develop online content for MSNBC.com.

Prior to joining NBC News, Whitaker served as Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of New Ventures at Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive. His responsibilities included creative development of new online ventures and multimedia as part of the company’s acclaimed portfolio of Internet sites. He additionally pursued partnerships and acquisitions on the company’s behalf.

Whitaker served as Editor at Newsweek from 1998-2006, and remained as Corporate Editor upon his departure. During his tenure with the magazine, the newsweekly received more editorial awards than at any other time in its history. Among these were the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, the industry’s highest prize, in 2002 for coverage of 9/11, and in 2004 for coverage of the Iraq war. Newsweek received an “Ellie” for Reporting in 1999, for coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and one for Single-Topic Issue in 2005, for its story on the Bush-Kerry presidential race. In 2005 Mediaweek named Whitaker and Greg Osberg, Newsweek’s worldwide publisher, their “Executive Team of the Year.”

Whitaker also oversaw the growth of Newsweek’s Web site, which is also affiliated with NBC News’ MSNBC.com. Its awards included Editor & Publisher’s “EPpy” award for best newsmagazine Web site and the MIN “Best of the Web Award” for Best National Magazine-Affiliated Web Site.

Widely respected in the journalism community, Whitaker served as President of the American Society of Magazine Editors from 2004 – 2006. He’s a current board member of the Committee to Protect Journalists

Before becoming editor, Whitaker served as a reporter, writer and editor for Newsweek for two decades. He started his career as a reporting summer intern and stringer, working in San Francisco, Boston, Washington, London and Paris while in college and graduate school. He became Business Editor in 1987. As an assistant managing editor and then managing editor from 1991 to 1998, Whitaker helped oversee coverage that included the first Gulf War, the presidential elections of 1992 and 1996, the Winter Olympics and the World Cup.

Whitaker graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1979 and studied International Relations at Oxford University’s Balliol College as a Marshall Scholar. He is married to Alexis Gelber, Newsweek’s director of special projects. They live in New York with their two children.