Dennis Anderson has joined the Lawrence Journal-World as the paper’s new managing editor.

Anderson, 42, comes to Lawrence from Norwich, Conn., where he had been managing editor of the Norwich Bulletin since 1999.

“What brings me to Lawrence is the opportunity to work for a top-notch news organization,” said Anderson, who started work Monday. “I’ve heard great things, and I think this is a wonderful opportunity for my family and myself, to become part of the Journal-World and the Lawrence community.”

Dolph C. Simons Jr., editor of the Journal-World, said he was “extremely pleased” to hire Anderson.

“He has a good record,” Simons said. “I think he’ll bring a variety of qualities and experiences to helping us put out an even better paper.”

Anderson, a Chicago native, has spent most of his 20-year career as an editor. He was a managing editor for the Pioneer Press chain of suburban Chicago newspapers, then a bureau chief for The Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill. Anderson was then metro editor for the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin in New York before heading to Connecticut.

He has received several Associated Press and Gannett awards for news coverage, and he was recognized as one of Gannett’s top 10 supervisors in 2000.

He has a wife, Julie, and two sons, Eric, 12, and Thomas, 9.

“The Journal-World is an outstanding newspaper,” Anderson said. “I don’t anticipate any major changes, except to work with staff to improve the newspaper and to serve the community, our readers, as best we can.”

He replaces Richard Brack, who is now the assistant bureau chief for The Associated Press in Chicago.