��ţӰ��

Dean Smith will serve a second five-year term as director of , Provost Alec D. Gallimore announced.

The reappointment followed a routine administrative review that was conducted by a committee chaired by Priscilla Wald, the R. Florence Brinkley Distinguished Professor of English. Smith’s new term begins July 1, 2024.

“Dean Smith has strengthened and grown ��ţӰ�� Press and steered it through a challenging period for scholarly publishing,” said Provost Alec D. Gallimore. “I am grateful for his innovative and forward-thinking leadership and look forward to working with him to ensure the Press continues to thrive and fulfill its important mission.” 

A leading scholarly publisher, the press each year publishes about 150 books, 60 journals, and multiple digital collections. Founded as Trinity College Press in 1921, it changed its name following the establishment of ��ţӰ�� in 1924 and will celebrate its centennial in 2026.

Smith, who previously served as director of Cornell University Press, was named to his position in 2019, succeeding Steve Cohn. As director, he navigated the Press through the challenges of the pandemic, launched a new publishing services initiative for university presses and association-based publishers, expanded the global distribution of the Press’s digital publications, and helped to create a culture based on equity and inclusion. 

“Dean Smith has been a standout leader for ��ţӰ�� Press,” said Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies Ed Balleisen. “He has sustained the press’s position as a cutting-edge publisher of interdisciplinary scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences, expanded its areas of focus, and demonstrated an exemplary commitment to inclusiveness in the workplace.”

The press has published more than 600 titles since Smith’s arrival, including bestsellers such as Achille Mbembe’s , Shannon Dee Williams’s , and Mackenzie Wark’s , and its authors have received more than 250 awards over the last five years. Under Smith, the Press has launched seven new journals, including Journal of Asian Studies, liquid blackness, Monsoon, and, most recently, Critical AI, which will analyze the impact of AI on society, and acquired Demography, a well-respected publication owned by the Population Association of America.

“I’m honored and grateful to be leading a talented team of publishing professionals into a second term as director of ��ţӰ�� Press,” Smith said. “I look forward to serving both the Duke community and the global academy of scholars in continuing to publish bold peer-reviewed interdisciplinary research that is essential in this moment. I’ve enjoyed every day at this incredible institution.”