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NEW YORK A director of Hearst Corp. and former chairman of Hearst Magazines, Richard Deems, has died at his home in New York. He was 96.

He also was a trustee of The Hearst Family Trust and sat on the boards of two Hearst Foundations. He was president of the magazines group from 1960 to 1976, hiring key editors such as Helen Gurley Brown for Cosmopolitan magazine and John Mack Carter for Good Housekeeping. Deems became chairman of Hearst Magazines in 1976.

Deems took a chance on Gurley Brown, who had the idea of starting a magazine based on her 1962 book, "Sex and the Single Girl," even though she had no magazine experience. Today, Cosmopolitan remains a popular women's magazine celebrating the single woman's lifestyle.

Deems first joined Hearst in 1939 as an advertising representative for Harper's Bazaar.

He is survived by his wife, Jean, his daughter and three grandchildren.