Crystal Villarreal to be assistant op-ed editor

The following announcement was sent on behalf of Editor of the Editorial Page Terry Tang:

I’m delighted to announce that Crystal Villarreal is joining the Opinion Department as an assistant op-ed editor. Villarreal joined The Times as an audience engagement editor in July 2021, assigned to Opinion. In that position, she quickly became a crucial member of the Opinion team. In her new role, she will assign and edit Opinion content on all platforms.

Before coming to The Times, Villarreal was an editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she wrote, edited and promoted lifestyle and entertainment articles and videos, while managing a team of producers. She’s also the author of two young adult novels and writes animation scripts for PBS Kids, including for a new show, “Work It Out Wombats!� premiering in early 2023.

Villarreal was born in California and grew up in Atlanta. She has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and women’s studies from the University of Georgia. She will begin her position Monday.