Thomas A. Stewart today resigned as editor and managing director of the Harvard Business Review [1].

Stewart joined Harvard Business Review in 2002 after serving as editorial director of now shuttered Business 2.0. A Harvard Business Review spokesperson declined to comment other than to say that Stewart was leaving the magazine "for personal reasons."

Harvard Business Publishing, the magazine's parent company and a subsidiary of Harvard University, says it will begin searching for Stewart's replacement. In the meantime, deputy editor Karen Dillon, editorial director Sarah Cliffe and publisher Hank Boye will serve as the senior leadership team for the magazine, the company says.

According to Publishers Information Bureau figures, Harvard Business Review's advertising sales during the first quarter were about $3.8 million, down 16.5 percent over the same period in 2007. Ad pages were down 16.9 percent.

Last year, Harvard Business Review won FOLIO:'s Eddie award [1] in the Best Full Issue category for its May 2007 issue.

The monthly magazine has a circulation of 246,000.