Thomas Bacher Named UA Press Director

Akron, Ohio, June 9, 2008 — Thomas Bacher has been named the director of The University of Akron Press. As director, he will oversee the acquisition of manuscripts, the production of titles and the marketing of books published by the press.

Bacher will arrive at Akron from Purdue University, where he has been director of the Purdue University Press since 1997. He began his career in publishing in 1981, and he has served in prominent positions at M.E. Sharpe Inc. in Armonk, N.Y.; Greenwood Publishing Group in Westport, Conn.; and Cambridge University Press in New York City.

Dr. Elizabeth Stroble, UA's senior vice president and provost and chief operating officer, says Bacher will help The University of Akron Press support intellectual inquiry through the publication of scholarly and creative works.

“In a dynamic and challenging environment for university presses everywhere, we are fortunate to attract an experienced professional who knows well how to build on the tradition of The University of Akron Press while establishing new ways to link the press with the university and the community in mutually successful ways,” she says.

While at Purdue, Bacher enhanced the press's visibility, redirected the press's acquisition program toward subjects that reflected Purdue's strengths and developed a journals program including open access publications.

“I am really looking forward to the opportunity at Akron,” Bacher says. “I believe that many of the strategies that worked at Purdue can work at Akron, and that we can make The University of Akron Press an even stronger asset for UA.”

Bacher earned a bachelor's degree from Hiram College, a master's degree from Kent State University and an MBA from Purdue.

Bacher will begin his duties at Akron on Aug. 1.

Founded in 1989, The University of Akron Press has published more than 75 books in six series: Poetry, which includes the prize from The University of Akron's annual poetry contest; Law, Politics and Society; Ohio History and Culture; Ohio Politics; Technology and the Environment; and International, Political and Economic History.

UA Press publications have received awards from the Center for Archival Collections, the American Association of University Presses, Choice, the Poetry Society of America, the Professional Football Researcher's Association, the Public Works Historical Society and the Society of Professional Journalists.

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