NEW YORK -- When Gerald M. Boyd was named managing editor of The New York Times, he knew he would set precedents: He was the first black journalist to hold that post, one of the top jobs at one of the world's most distinguished newspapers.

"I'm not about to dwell on the firstness of all of this," Boyd said when he was appointed in 2001, "but if somewhere a kid of color who reads about this can smile tomorrow or dream a little bigger dream, then that makes me very happy."

But The Times would also make less welcome headlines during Boyd's tenure. Two years after his appointment, he resigned amid a reporter's plagiarism scandal.

Boyd died Thursday at his home in Harlem, said his wife, Robin Stone. He was 56. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer in February but had kept the condition private from most of his friends and colleagues, Stone said.

"Every wife would say she'd want her husband to be known as a great person, wonderful husband, father and good citizen," his wife, a fellow journalist, said from her home. "But as I've said before, as a journalist, he was my hero; and I know he was a hero to many journalists in the profession."

A native of St. Louis, Boyd joined the Times in 1983 after serving as White House correspondent for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. At 28, he was the youngest journalist chosen for Harvard University's prestigious Nieman fellowship, The Times reported.

According to the newspaper, Boyd was the first black journalist to hold many of his various jobs there, including city editor. As deputy managing editor for news, he oversaw the 2000 series "How Race is Lived in America," which won a Pulitzer Prize.

Over the years, Boyd led or shared in leading coverage that won a total of nine Pulitzer Prizes, the newspaper said. Topics included the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, children in poverty and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

As he rose through The Times' management ranks, Boyd became known as demanding and determined.

"He knew how to mobilize a reporting team and surround a story so that nothing important was missed. He knew how to motivate and inspire," said executive editor Bill Keller, according to The Times. "And, tough and demanding as he could be, he had a huge heart. He left the paper under sad circumstances, but despite all of that he left behind a great reservoir of respect and affection."

Boyd and former executive editor Howell Raines were brought down by the scandal caused by Jayson Blair, a journalist they had groomed, and criticism of their management style. Boyd resigned in 2003.

In the subsequent months, Boyd said he made a mutual decision with the newspaper to resign after The Times discovered that Blair had plagiarized material, invented quotes and written stories using datelines of places he had never been. The scandal exposed a deeply discontented staff that had lost confidence in newsroom leadership.

Boyd shared the blame and responsibility for Blair's downfall but said management didn't realize how deeply troubled Blair was until it was too late.

Had management known, "Jayson Blair simply would not have been writing for The New York Times," Boyd said at a speech in Dallas in August 2003. He dismissed as "absolutely untrue" criticism that Blair had been promoted and his problems overlooked because the reporter was black.

Boyd said it was disturbing that people would read more into the situation because of race.

"I would be lying if I didn't say that I can't help wonder why after all these years of struggling to establish our work and credibility in the newsroom -- to be seen as top-notch journalists -- as soon as controversy arises, an African-American reporter and an African-American senior editor are automatically viewed as suspect," he said at the time.

After his resignation, Boyd was involved in several projects, including a writing a column for Universal Press Syndicate to help people understand how newsroom decisions are made.

"I just think the more we can as journalists try to explain what happens in terms of decision-making, to pull back curtains and describe what goes on in newsrooms or in journalism in general, the better we are," Boyd said in 2004.

Boyd joined Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism for a semester in 2004 to develop case-study curriculum materials, and he had been working on a memoir.

"I wanted to do everything I could to try to be a positive force in journalism and try to begin to deal with issues that I saw as important, such as credibility issues, such as leadership issues and issues involving diversity," he said at the time.

He is survived by his wife and 10-year-old son, Zachary.