MEMBER UPDATES
Each month, AUPresses recognizes the achievements, promotions, career moves, and retirements of members of the community through the Member UPdates section of the bulletin.
RETIRING PRESS DIRECTORS
After 26 years, Director of Beacon Press Helene Atwan retired in July 2022. Read this fitting tribute to her years at the Press.
Philip Cercone, Executive Director of McGill-Queen’s University Press, announced that he will retire in June 2023 after 38 years as Executive Director of the Press. Cercone had served on numerous AUPresses Committees, including as Chair of the Annual Meeting Program Committee, and had been elected twice to the Board of Directors, including service as President.
Michigan State University Press Director Gabriel Dotto retired at the end of July 2022. Read more.
Director Alice Randel Pfeiffer retired in October 2022 after thirty-five years at Syracuse University Press. Randel Pfeiffer, who became director in 2006, had been involved in the work of AUPresses, including as a member of the Small Presses Task Force.
NEW PRESS DIRECTORS
In 2022-2023, AUPresses saw the appointment of several new Press Directors:
The University of Virginia Press announced the appointment of Eric Brandt as Director. Brandt joined UVA Press as Assistant Director and Editor in Chief in 2015. He began his career managing publicity at Columbia University Press; served as Senior Editor for Humanities at Yale University Press; and as Executive Editor in History at Stanford University Press. Read the announcement.
Catherine Cocks has been appointed Director of the Syracuse University Press. Cocks comes to the Press from Michigan State University Press where she served as Interim Director and previously as Assistant Director and Editor in Chief. Earlier positions over more than twenty years in publishing include Senior Acquisitions Editor at the University of Washington Press and Editorial Director at the University of Iowa Press. She has been active in the AUPresses community, previously chairing the AUPresses Acquisitions Editorial and Faculty Outreach Committees, and currently serving on the joint Career Progression Task Force coordinated by AUPresses and the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP). Read the announcement.
The American University in Cairo Press welcomed its new Executive Director, Veerle De Laet. De Laet was Managing Director and Publisher at Leuven University Press since 2016. Prior to that, she held the position of Acquisitions Editor at Leuven. De Laet is currently serving as a mentor in the AUPresses Mentorship Program. Read the announcement.
Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero has officially been appointed to lead the University of Guam Press as its first Director of Publishing. Her experience spans 20 years as an author, professional editor, educator, and community organizer. In 2015, Leon Guerrero was tasked as a program coordinator with reviving the Guam university press, and in 2022 oversaw the successful application of the Press to membership in the Association. Read the announcement.
Michael J. McGandy was appointed Director of the University of South Carolina Press. McGandy brings over 20 years of publishing experience to the Press, having previously served as Associate Editor for Macmillan Reference USA/Gale Group/Thompson, and Senior Editor and Editorial Director of Three Hills at Cornell University Press. Read the announcement.
Marlene McHugh Pratt has joined SUNY Press as Director. McHugh Pratt has worked in educational publishing for the past thirty years. Her expertise and roles have spanned sales, editorial, and management. Read the announcement.
Earlier this month, Leuven University Press welcomed Nienke Roelants as its new Director. Roelants has a professional background in both educational and trade publishing. A PhD in history, she recently coauthored a book on the history of academic freedom at KU Leuven. Read the announcement.
The University of Alabama Press and the University of Alabama Libraries announced that JD Wilson was appointed Director of the Press. Wilson has served as the Director of Sales and Marketing at Northwestern University Press for the past seven years. Prior to that, Wilson held that title at the University of Alabama Press. Read the announcement.
IN MEMORIAM
The AUPresses community has lost a number of valued members this year.
Kenneth Cherry, Director Emeritus of the University Press of Kentucky, passed away in November 2022. Cherry came to Kentucky from the University of Tennessee Press in 1987, and retired in 2001 after a 23-year tenure. Cherry served the Association on several committees and as a Board member from 1985-88. Read more about his life and his work.
John Clare, PR and Research Communications Manager, Cambridge University Press and Assessment, passed away in January 2023. Read a tribute to his life and work.
Margaret Anne Fisher Dalrymple passed away in August 2022. Dalrymple spent many years at Louisiana State University Press, where she advanced from Copy Editor to Managing Editor, Editor in Chief, and Assistant Director. She joined the University of Nevada Press in 1995 as Editor in Chief and served as Acting Director for a time. Though she retired in 2000, Dalrymple returned to editorial work at the University of Nevada Press from 2020 until 2022. Read her obituary.
Ezra (“Sam”) Diman IV, former University of Wisconsin Press Associate Director, passed away in July 2022. Diman retired in 1995, after roughly thirty-five years on staff at the Press. Having started at the Press in an entry level position, Diman progressively worked his way to senior positions at the Press, serving as Production Manager and Associate Director. Read his obituary.
Jack Goellner, former Johns Hopkins University Press Director, passed away in December 2022. Goellner had been Director of the Press for 21 years before retiring in 1995. He joined the Press as Manager of Sales and Advertising in 1961 and moved up the ranks to become Director. He served the Association as President 1979-1980; his presidential address is available online. The Goellner Endowment continues to support the work of Johns Hopkins University Press. Read his obituary, an article published in the Baltimore Sun upon his retirement, and this remembrance by his colleagues at the Press.
Mark Heineke, Marketing Manager at the University of Nebraska Press, passed away in July 2022. Heineke had long been an active and invaluable member of our community. He joined the University of Chicago Press in 2006 as Promotions Manager and moved up the ranks to Marketing Director; served as Editor-in-Chief at Northern Illinois University Press and as Sales and Marketing Manager at the Paul Getty Trust; and began his tenure as Marketing Manager at the University of Nebraska Press in April 2017. Heineke served on numerous AUPresses committees, task forces, and panels. Read more about his life and work.
Dillon Johnston, founding Director of Wake Forest University Press, passed away in December 2022. Johnson established the Press in 1975 to bring the best contemporary Irish poetry to North America. Johnson retired in 2003 but remained the Press’s Advising Editor. Read his obituary.
Thomas McFarland, retired Director of the University Press of New England (UPNE), passed away in November 2022. McFarland’s university press career took him from the sales department of Johns Hopkins University Press to Assistant Director of the University of California Press until his 1979 appointment as UPNE Director and Editor. McFarland served as the Association’s President from 1989-90. Read his obituary.
Julidta Tarver, longtime Editor at the University of Washington Press, passed away in August 2022. Tarver began working at the Press as a graduate student in 1966. She became Managing Editor in the mid-seventies and Acquiring Editor before retiring in 2007. View her obituary and a recording of her memorial event.
Craig Wilkie, former Director of Finance and Administration at the University Press of Kentucky, passed away in October 2022. Wilkie retired four years ago after twenty-five years at the Press. Read his obituary.
Anne M. Zarrella passed away in October 2022. Zarrella had worked at Harvard University Press for twenty-one years at the time of her passing. Read her obituary.