Mary Francis to head Penn Press

Mary Francis has been named director of Penn Press at the University of Pennsylvania, effective Sept. 23. The announcement was made today by Penn Provost Wendell Pritchett.

Mary Francis has been named director of Penn Press at the University of Pennsylvania, effective Sept. 23. The announcement was made today by Penn Provost Wendell Pritchett.

Francis is a national leader in the university press community who serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of University Presses and just chaired the AUP’s 2019 annual meeting, which focused specifically on advancing diversity and inclusion. She has been editorial director of University of Michigan Press since 2015 and spent more than 16 years at University of California Press.

Francis has been a leader in developing new forms of open access, including Michigan Publishing’s pioneering community-based, open-source platform Fulcrum, launched with support from the Mellon Foundation and now being used by numerous presses across the country. At the same time, she has been an award-winning acquiring editor of books across her areas of expertise in media/film studies, digital culture, literary studies, and music.

“I am confident that Mary will be a spectacular leader, working closely and collaboratively across the Penn community to chart the future of Penn Press,” Pritchett said.