Garrett P. Kiely, a leader in academic publishing who has served as director of the University of Chicago Press since 2007, has been reappointed for a fourth five-year term, Provost Ka Yee C. Lee announced. Kiely’s reappointment is effective Sept. 1.
Kiely leads the nation’s largest academic press, which publishes more than 300 new books and 93 journals per year for both scholarly and general interest audiences. The Press also serves as the largest distributor of academic publications in the United States.
“Garrett has demonstrated exceptional leadership during his 15-year tenure as director of the University of Chicago Press,” Lee said. “As the academic publishing landscape continues evolving, Garrett has consistently identified new and innovative ways of presenting some of the world’s most impactful scholarship to global audiences.”
Over the past five years, Kiely led the Press to expand its global reach across all areas. Its books are now more widely available through new partnerships with Princeton University Press (China), De Gruyter (Europe), Wiley (Australia) and a network of on-demand printers throughout the world. The Press licensed translations for its books in 58 countries and 41 languages and more than tripled the number of available audiobook titles.
The Press has added 22 new journals to its portfolio since 2017, including three based at the University. These journals are available throughout the world, and the innovative “Complete Chicago Package,” which gives institutions the widest range of content at reasonable prices, is now available in hundreds of libraries in more than 30 countries. Press distribution services, both print and digital, continue to expand and now represent more than 150 publishers from the United States and 20 other countries—with 43 presses joining in the last five years. The Press also has embarked on a multi-year effort to digitize every book it has ever published, including many out-of-print titles unavailable in digital form.
Kiely was recently elected to a second term on the board of directors for the Association of American Publishers and is a member of the Governing Board of Stanford University Press. A graduate of Georgetown University, he joined the Press after more than 20 years at Palgrave Macmillan USA, a division of St. Martin’s Press, where he served as president, vice president of the Scholarly and Reference Division, and both sales and marketing director.
“I am honored to be reappointed as director of the University of Chicago Press,” Kiely said. “Every day I work with an inspiring group of publishing professionals who have remained resourceful, creative, and immensely productive despite the challenges of the last 28 months. Perhaps more than ever before, the world needs what the Press publishes. I look forward to working with our staff, authors, and the University faculty and administration to build on more than 130 years of excellence.”
—Prof. Chuan He
