Robert B. Semple, Jr. was named associate editor of the editorial page of The New York Times on June 1, 1988, after having served since April, 1982 as editor of the Op Ed-page.

Mr. Semple began his career with The Times as a general assignment reporter in the Washington bureau in 1963 and subsequently became a political reporter and White House correspondent during the first Nixon term. He was appointed deputy national editor in New York in 1973 and was named London bureau chief in 1975. In February 1977 he returned to New York as foreign editor, responsible for directing the work of the papers foreign bureaus.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 12, 1936, he graduated from Phillips Academy in 1954 and, after a year abroad, from Yale in 1959. He received an M.A. in history from the University of California at Berkeley in 1961.

Mr. Semple has lectured extensively on domestic and foreign policy and the role of the press in shaping the news. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is married and lives in Manhattan.