New York ? Gerald M. Boyd, who became the first black managing editor of The New York Times and was forced to resign two years later amid a reporter’s plagiarism scandal, has died. He was 56.

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

Boyd and 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 at one of the world’s most distinguished newspapers. Boyd resigned in 2003.

Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, called Boyd a friend and colleague. “He was one of us,” Keller said in an e-mail to Times staff.

According to the newspaper’s Web site, Boyd’s career began during the civil rights era and inspired generations of black journalists.

He was the first black journalist to work the many jobs he held at The Times, 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.

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