NEW YORK (CNN) - The New York Times Thursday named two new managing editors, the newspaper's latest move to restore its image after the Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal.

Jill Abramson, its Washington bureau chief since 2000, and John M. Geddes, a deputy managing editor since 1997, are to assume the roles of managing editors of the newspaper Sept. 2, the newspaper said.

The previous managing editor, Gerald Boyd, and Executive Editor Howell Raines resigned from the paper last month over the commotion caused by the scandal. Abramson will be the paper's first female managing editor. Boyd was the paper's first African-American managing editor.

The move comes a day after the newspaper released a report recommending major changes at the paper, including the naming of an ombudsman, which the Times is calling a public editor, and an overhaul of byline policy.

In a written statement, Executive Editor Bill Keller, Raines' replacement, said, "In Jill and John, I will have two sidekicks who are superb journalists, genuine leaders, straight shooters, deeply committed to this paper and all it stands for."

A replacement for Abramson, 49, has not been named. Geddes, 51, will not be replaced since his promotion is an expansion of his "current portfolio of responsibilities."

The newspaper has never had two managing editors, but the paper's recent internal review recommended that someone focus on managing the newsroom and developing the talents of its reporters.

Abramson, now the newsroom's highest ranking female, will focus her work on news gathering while Geddes will focus on news operations.

Abramson, who graduated from Harvard University, is co-author of "Strange Justice," and "Where They Are Now." Geddes joined the newspaper as a business and finance editor.

Blair resigned from the Times on May 1 after a Texas newspaper questioned whether he had plagiarized its article about the family of a soldier missing in Iraq.

A subsequent investigation by the Times uncovered many other instances in which Blair produced stories based on faked on-scene reporting, including the Washington sniper case.

Shares of New York Times Co. (NYT: up $0.40 to $44.75, Research, Estimates), which owns the flagship paper as well as the Boston Globe, magazines and other media properties, rose about 1 percent in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading.