Chapman will assume his new duties at the Rochester newspaper Sept. 24, the Small Newspaper Group announced.

He had been senior development officer at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill. Before that, he was publisher of the Herald News in Joliet, Ill., a suburban Chicago daily.

"For almost my entire career, I've worked in the news media and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to return to newspapers with the Post-Bulletin and Small Newspaper Group, which have a well-deserved reputation for excellence," Chapman said.

Chapman began his newspaper career as an advertising account executive in Rockford, Ill., in 1969. He later became director of marketing for the Fox Valley Press in Plainfield, Ill., which published five daily newspapers and 13 weekly tabloids in the Chicago area.

Small Newspaper Group, a family-held private company based in Kankakee, Ill., publishes five dailies in Illinois and Indiana, in addition to the Post-Bulletin, and also produces a range of other publications, including Agri News, Rochester Magazine and Lake Magazine.