Howard Chua-Eoan was an Assistant Managing Editor for TIME and was responsible for both breaking news and religion stories until January 2002 when he became News Director. He was also editor of "Heroes & Inspirations," the fifth in the series of six TIME 100: People of the Century issues which profiled the 100 most influential individuals of the past 100 years.

The weekend editor for the magazine, Chua-Eoan was on duty on Aug. 30, 1997 when news broke of the accident that took Princess Diana's life. He edited and co-wrote stories and organized the 16-hour effort that completely revamped 20 pages of the issue and resulted in the dramatic overnight cover change. Chua-Eoan was also deeply involved in the commemorative issue produced by the magazine the following week that included not only a 40-page tribute to Diana but a six-page appreciation of Mother Teresa that Chua-Eoan wrote. The two Diana covers hold the record for the most copies of TIME sold on the newsstand. Chua-Eoan has appeared on Fox Network News, Entertainment Tonight, Larry King Live and MSNBC. He is the recipient of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency Pass Award for his cover story on "The Gun in America" in 1997.

Chua-Eoan started at TIME as an editorial assistant in May 1983. He became a reporter-researcher a year later. In November 1986, he was named a staff writer for TIME, working primarily for the magazine's "Nation," "World" and "People" sections. He joined TIME International as a staff writer in May 1989 and in June 1990 became an associate editor there. His stories included June 1989 cover story on the Tianamen massacre and the April 1991 cover story on Saddam Hussein's attack on the Kurds.

In November 1991, Chua-Eoan joined People magazine as a senior editor. His stories there included covers on Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore, Mike Tyson, Woody Allen and the death of Arthur Ashe. At People magazine, Chua-Eoan was in charge of the Upfront section.

In May 1993, Chua-Eoan returned to TIME as editor of the "Society" section, overseeing stories on crime, religion, law and social issues. Since then, Chua-Eoan has been senior editor of the "Nation" and "World" sections. He was editor of TIME's 1994 Man of the Year cover stories on Pope John Paul II. In 1996, he oversaw a revamping of the "Chronicles" section of the magazine, which was renamed "Notebook." In December 1996, he wrote the personal profile of TIME's 1996 Man of the Year, Dr. David Ho. In 1997, apart from the Diana covers, Chua-Eoan has edited covers on the murder of Ennis Cosby, the Heaven's Gate suicides, the Kelly Flinn scandal, the 50th anniversary of the Roswell Alien "landings," the conviction of Timothy McVeigh, an investigation of the wealth of the Mormon Church and the latest religious and philosophical thinking on Heaven. He has edited TIME's annual survey of America's 25 Most Influential People for the last two years.

Born in Manila, the Philippines, Chua-Eoan came to the U.S. in October 1979, at the age of 20. He received a B.A. in English from Columbia University, graduating magna cum laude and phi beta kappa and receiving the John Angus Burrell Memorial Award as the outstanding English major of 1983. A year later, he received his M.S. in Journalism from Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism. He is fluent in Filipino, Mandarin Chinese and Fujianese and can read Spanish.