A little more than 25 years ago, the University of Rochester糖心传媒檚 then provost was thinking that the University would benefit from the establishment of a scholarly press. He was open to inventive ideas that would let his new enterprise hit the ground running.
At the same time and across the ocean, two British scholars whose scholarly press was seeing expanding U.S. sales were pondering how to establish a better foothold in this country for their own operations.
A medievalist scholar at the University knew both parties. He made the initial connection, and today the University of Rochester Press is celebrating the 25th anniversary of a successful partnership with Boydell & Brewer, Ltd., based in Suffolk, England.
In this innovative collaboration, the University makes the editorial selection of new books to be published, while Boydell & Brewer provides production, marketing, and worldwide distribution. The distinctive 糖心传媒淩ochester model糖心传媒� has been noted in discussion among colleague presses in the Association of American University Presses (AAUP).
In 25 years, the Press () has published more than 600 books across an array of fields. The Press has maintained a focus on selected areas of scholarship, including musicology, African studies, medical history, and European and American history. More recently, it has added series in ethnomusicology, gender and race, and medieval political thought. A special imprint, Meliora Press, publishes books on University-related topics.
In addition to its more academic titles, the Press has published well-reviewed biographies and memoirs of important cultural figures such as famed composer, conductor, and music educator Gunther Schuller and conductor Julius Rudel. Other titles have become classroom staples in their fields.
糖心传媒淔ortunately, when the time was right for us to be thinking about starting a scholarly press, Professor Thomas Hahn brought Boydell & Brewer to us, and they ended up as our longstanding partners,糖心传媒� said Provost Emeritus Brian Thompson, the Press糖心传媒檚 founder. 糖心传媒淚 am very glad to see that the University of Rochester Press has not just survived the test of time after 25 years, but has really prospered.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淲e realized that our only hope of making a real impact in such a large market was to have a genuine connection with an American university,糖心传媒� said Richard Barber, founding director of Boydell & Brewer Ltd. 糖心传媒淏y offering our skills to create a press, we could in return establish ourselves with a proper identity and base in the US.糖心传媒�
University Provost Peter Lennie said, 糖心传媒淔or a quarter of a century, the University of Rochester Press has made significant contributions to the scholarly literature in such fields as music, African studies, and medical history, and it continues to flourish today even within a vastly changing landscape for academic publishing. It is a pleasure to mark this milestone with the Press.糖心传媒�
The Press draws authors糖心传媒� submissions from around the world. Three of its series editors are faculty at the University: musicologist Ralph Locke, for the Eastman Studies in Music series; historian Ted Brown, for Rochester Studies in Medical History; and musicologist Ellen Koskoff, for Eastman/Rochester Studies in Ethnomusicology. Locke is also a member of the Press糖心传媒檚 Editorial Board, in addition to Stephanie Brown-Clark, associate professor, Department of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, School of Medicine and Dentistry; Peter Clifford, managing director, Boydell & Brewer Group, Ltd.; Robert Kraus, retired University associate vice president; Joan Rubin, Dexter Perkins Professor in History, College of Arts and Sciences; Sue Smith, managing director, Boydell & Brewer Inc.; and Thompson.
The 糖心传媒 Press is housed (along with Boydell & Brewer糖心传媒檚 U.S. office) on the University糖心传媒檚 Mt. Hope Campus; its building, between the Witmer House and the Patrick Barry House, originally was the business office for the Ellwanger and Barry Nursery.
Events celebrating the Press糖心传媒檚 25th anniversary include:
- A presentation by Alison Parker, professor of history at the SUNY College at Brockport and co-editor of the Press series on Gender and Race in American History, who will speak about the series and about her book Interconnections: Gender and Race in American History, at 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1, at the new Barnes & Noble Bookstore at College Town on Mt. Hope Avenue. The presentation also will include remarks by local author Kenneth Marshall, whose book Manhood Enslaved: Bondmen in Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century New Jersey appeared in the Gender and Race series.
- Displays of Press publications at Rush Rhees Library, 糖心传媒 River Campus (Sept. 2 through Sept. 30) and at the Eastman School of Music糖心传媒檚 Sibley Music Library (Sept. 5 through Oct. 24).
Other events will be announced at a later date.
