Margaret Sullivan, the editor and vice president of the Buffalo News, is leaving the newspaper and heading to the New York Times on Sept. 1.

Even though Buffalo.com is under the Buffalo News umbrella of publications, we were just as surprised as everyone else to learn the news (via Twitter), and we congratulate Margaret on this monumental career move.

According to the New York Times Media Decoder blog, Sullivan will become the new public editor at the Times—the first woman to hold that title. She will succeed Arthur S. Brisbane to become the paper’s fifth public editor.

The Times executive editor Jill Abramson said in a press release:

“Margaret has exactly the right experience to assume this critical role for us at this time. She has an impressive 32-year background in print journalism where she has distinguished herself as a reporter, columnist, editor and manager. And critically for us at this time, she has shown adeptness at embracing new platforms and engaging and interacting with readers in real time online, in print and in person.”

Sullivan, who began working at the Buffalo News as an intern in 1980, also worked as a reporter, columnist, city editor, features editor and managing editor before taking over the reigns as the paper’s first female editor, the Buffalo News reports.

Sullivan’s positive impact on the state of journalism in Buffalo and beyond is undeniable. The Lackawanna native and Nardin Academy alumna with degrees from Georgetown University and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism made major waves in upstate New York’s journalism circles. According to the Buffalo News, she was influential in launching Western New York’s leading news website and emphasized local enterprise reporting.

She stood by many tough editorial and business decisions, including the recent announcement of the subscriber access model at the news, the paper’s move to print the names and criminal records of the City Grill shooting victims, and the decision to require full names of online commenters on news stories. She has been an advocate for evolution in news reporting, making a strong effort to introduce multimedia practices in the newsroom.

The Buffalo.com team congratulates Margaret on this exciting new opportunity. We wish you only the best.

(And way to represent Lackawanna and Our Lady of Victory! WOOT, WOOT.)