By Jennifer ChenThe Daily Northwestern

Medill School of Journalism Broadcast Chairman Jon Petrovich said he will resign from his post for “personal and professional reasons,” effective in June.

“I need to be back on the East Coast,” he said.

Petrovich said he will return to his home state of New York, where he plans to continue teaching and consulting for companies such as the Associated Press.

“I think we’re all a little shocked as broadcast students,” said Medill senior Brent Swails. “He just got here a year-and-a-half ago, so we weren’t expecting him to leave so soon.”

As faculty adviser to the student-run Northwestern News Network, Petrovich improved the station drastically, Swails said.

“As a senior I’m just lucky enough to have had him for two years,” he said.

Professor and former Medill Dean Loren Ghiglione also praised Petrovich.

“I think he’s done a great job here,” Ghiglione said. “He knows a great deal about broadcast and has consulting jobs that keep him on the cutting edge, which is an advantage for the students. I’m going to miss him. I’m a big fan.”

Petrovich’s relations with Medill go back to the 1990s, when he served on the school’s Board of Advisers. He joined the faculty in September 2005, bringing 37 years of big-name industry experience to his position as broadcast and electronic media sector head.

Before coming to Evanston, Petrovich served as executive vice president of both Sony Pictures Television International and CNN. He also was president of Turner Broadcasting System Latin America Inc. and a director of the Radio and Television News Directors Association.

At CNN Petrovich spearheaded all of the network’s new media projects. CNN Headline News, CNN en Espa