Publisher of Random House Unit Named

Harold Evans, founding editor-in-chief of Conde Nast Traveler, has been named president and publisher of Random House Adult Trade Books at Random House Inc.

He will replace Joni Evans, who is giving up the position as publisher of the Adult Trade Books imprint, which publishes general fiction and nonfiction, to start her own list of books for Random House, Alberto Vitale, chairman of Random House, said in a release.

Harold Evans, 61, also has been named executive vice president of Random House. Joni Evans, 48, also holds that title. The two are not related.

William T. Loverd, a Random House spokesman, said the change was a surprise but “not an upheaval.� He said 1990 has been one of the most successful years for the Adult Trade Books imprint.

Random House, however, has suffered some turmoil in the past year, beginning with the ouster late last year of Chairman Robert L. Bernstein. He was succeeded by Vitale.

Joni Evans joined Random House in 1987 with the intention of starting her own imprint, Loverd said. She replaced Howard Kaminsky as publisher of trade books after being at Random House only two months. Kaminsky had quit, citing “management differences.�

Her new imprint, still to be named, will be housed in a brownstone in mid-town Manhattan outside the Random House headquarters.

As publisher and president of Random House Adult Trade Books, Harold Evans will have the overall responsibility for the publishing and editorial direction of the imprint, in addition to heading Villard Books and Times Books.

Both Conde Nast and Random House are owned by Advance Publications, a family business of S. I. Newhouse. Evans, who has experience in both the United States and Britain, is married to Tina Brown, editor of Vanity Fair, another Conde Nast publication.