Director, JHU Press; JHU Press

Johns Hopkins University has retained Jack Farrell & Associates to support the search for Director of the Johns Hopkins University Press. The search will continue until the Director is appointed, but in order to receive the most thorough consideration, candidates should submit their materials (c.v. and cover letter as separate PDF files) as soon as possible. The University intends to make this appointment effective no later than February 1, 2027.

The Johns Hopkins University seeks an exceptional leader to serve as the next Director of the Johns Hopkins University Press (JHU Press). This is a remarkable opportunity to lead one of the world's most distinguished and influential university presses at a pivotal moment in scholarly publishing.

The incoming Director will guide JHU Press through an era of profound transformation in academic publishing, marked by rapid advances in digital technologies, the evolution of open access models, the rise of generative artificial intelligence, and shifting economic dynamics. This leader will steward a storied institution while driving innovation across books, journals, digital aggregation platforms, and service operations that collectively serve the global scholarly community.

The ideal candidate will combine deep publishing expertise with strategic vision, financial acumen, and technological fluency. This leader will be committed to advancing trusted scholarship and connecting people to evidence-based knowledge—core to the Press's mission and Johns Hopkins University's broader commitment to bringing the benefits of discovery to the world. The role offers the opportunity to shape the future of scholarly communication while working with world‑class faculty, accomplished staff, and a supportive university administration committed to the Press's continued excellence and growth.

Established in 1878—just two years after the university's founding, the JHU Press remains the oldest continuously operating university press in the United States and is among the world's largest. The Press operates from its historic home in Baltimore's Charles Village neighborhood, a renovated former church building that has housed its operations since 1993.

The JHU Press publishes award-winning titles across humanities, arts, physical, life, and medical sciences, public health, and social sciences, and consumer health that reach a worldwide audience of scholars, students, and discerning readers. Through books, journals, and digital projects such as The Complete Prose of T.S. Eliot and the Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism, the Press fulfills the mandate of Daniel Coit Gilman, Johns Hopkins' first president, to broadly disseminate the expertise of leading scholars, scientists and physicians, delivering new knowledge in innovative and effective ways.

The JHU Press is distinguished not only by its editorial programs but also by its leadership in digital dissemination and services supporting the broader system of scholarly communication. With a staff of 130 professionals and an operating budget of about $50 million, the Press operates multiple integrated divisions that together form one of the most comprehensive scholarly publishing operations in North America.

With critically acclaimed titles in many subject areas, the JHU Press Books Division publishes approximately 120 new books each year and maintains a backlist exceeding 4,000 titles. Notable books include works that have shaped scholarly discourse and reached general audiences:
Nancy Mace’s and Peter Rabin’s The 36‑Hour Day: A Family Guide to Care for People with Alzheimer Disease, Other Dementias, and Memory Loss;
Jacques Derrida’s (translated by Gayatri…