The University of Pennsylvania Press disseminates knowledge and advances intellectual inquiry. We collaborate with scholarly communities, foster creative ideas, and give voice to thinkers of diverse backgrounds. As one of the oldest scholarly presses in North America, we publish thought-provoking work to gain a better understanding of our shared past and inform a more just and equitable future.
Information About:
History of the Press
The University of Pennsylvania Press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 26, 1890—among the earliest such imprints in America. One of the Press’s first books, published in 1899, was a landmark, as well as an example of the Press’s close ties to its home city: The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study by renowned reformer, scholar, and social critic W.E.B. DuBois, a book that remains on the Press’s list to this day. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Penn Press began to focus its editorial program on American and European historical and cultural studies and the social sciences, and resources for practitioners in healthcare, human rights, and public policy.
Penn Press Today
A member of the Association of University Presses, the Press today publishes more than 100 new books a year and 22 journals, as well as maintaining an active backlist of more than 3,000 titles.
True to its Philadelphia roots, Penn Press is well-known for its distinguished list of publications in American history and culture, including innovative work on the transnational currents that surrounded and shaped the republic from the colonial period through the present, as well as prize-winning publications in urban studies. The Press is equally renowned for its publications in European history, literature, and culture from late antiquity through the early modern period. Penn Press’s social science publications tackle contemporary political issues of concern to a broad readership of citizens and scholars, notably including a long-standing commitment to publishing path-breaking work in international human rights. Penn Press also publishes outstanding works in archaeology, economic history, business, and Jewish Studies in partnership with local institutions. You can learn more about our recent publications by browsing via the menus above, using our search feature, or viewing our seasonal catalogs.
Campus Partnerships
The Press partners with many of the University of Pennsylvania’s faculty members, academic departments, research centers, and institutes on campus to publish books and journals and to share in the university’s tradition of translating knowledge into social-minded action. These partners include:
- Wharton School Press, our newest distribution partner, with whom we publish a select list of award-winning, bestselling, and thought-leading books that offer trusted business knowledge to help leaders at all levels meet the challenges of today and the opportunities of tomorrow.
- The Arthur Ross Gallery, with whom we have partnered to distribute exhibition catalogs that showcase the Gallery’s mission of advancing scholarship, collaboration, and outreach through direct engagement with original art and artifacts.
- The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, with whom we partner to publish both the Jewish Culture and Contexts series and one of our journals, the Jewish Quarterly Review.
- The McNeil Center for Early American Studies, with whom we partner to publish both the Early American Studies series and the journal Early American Studies.
- The Stuart Weitzman School of Design, with whom we partner to publish both the Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture series and the journal Change Over Time.
- The Penn Institute for Urban Research, with whom we partner to publish the City in the Twenty-First Century series.
- The Workshop in the History of Material Texts, with whom we publish the Material Texts series.
- The Rosenbach Fellowship in Bibliography, with whom we partner to publish books based on the A.S.W. Rosenbach Lectures in Bibliography.
- The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, with whom we partner to publish the journal Manuscript Studies.
- The Department of History, with whom we partner to publish the journal Capitalism.
- The Department of Romance Languages, with whom we partner to publish the journals French Forum and Hispanic Review.
- Penn Medicine, with whom we partner to publish the journal Observational Studies.
Penn Press News & Events
For the latest Penn Press news, as well as guest posts from our authors and other exciting content, please visit our blog, the Penn Press Log.
To see the latest events related to our books, journals, and authors, please visit our events page.
Penn Press also shares recent news in our internal quarterly PDF newsletter, which is distributed to its staff, faculty editorial board, board of trustees, and select University of Pennsylvania administrators and partners. View the latest issues of the newsletter below:
Annual Report
Penn Press’s recent annual reports are available below:
Support Penn Press
Donations from individuals and institutions—our valued readers and collaborators—are vital to Penn Press’s mission to sustain independently vetted, prize-winning content. For information about how you can support Penn Press, click here.
Departments
Operations of the Press are distributed among the three departments of the Books Division, the Journals Division, and Business & Administration staff:
Governance
Penn Press External Advisory Board
Brendan Cahill
VP Corporate Projects
Random HouseDaniel Gordon
Owner and Manager
Fulwider CorporationTodor Grigorov
Former CFO
Public Library of Science (PLOS)Corrine A. Irish
Partner
Squire Patton BoggsJohn L. Jackson, Jr., ex officio
Provost & Richard Perry University Professor
University of PennsylvaniaKate Lee
Editor in Chief
Every, Inc.Sarah Paoletti, ex officio
Practice Professor of Law
Director, Transnational Legal Clinic
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law SchoolFranklyn L. Rodgers, chair emeritus
Former Chairman
Warner Publisher Services, Inc.Heidi Howard Tandy
Partner, Berger SingermanStuart Teacher
Co-Founder and former Publisher
Running Press Book PublishersRichard W. Vague, chair
Managing Director
Gabriel Investments
Faculty Editorial Board
Shira Brisman
Assistant Professor in Early Modern Art
Department of History of Art
University of PennsylvaniaKathleen M. Brown
David Boies Professor of History
Department of History
University of PennsylvaniaJamal J. Elias
Walter H. Annenberg Professor of the Humanities & Professor of Religious Studies
Department of Religious Studies
University of PennsylvaniaNancy Hirschmann
Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professor in the Social Sciences
Department of Political Science
University of PennsylvaniaJohn L. Jackson, Jr., ex officio
Provost & Richard Perry University Professor
University of PennsylvaniaZita Cristina Nunes
Associate Professor of English
Department of English
University of PennsylvaniaSarah Paoletti, chair
Practice Professor of Law
Director, Transnational Legal Clinic
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law SchoolMegan Eaton Robb
Julie and Martin Franklin Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Department of Religious Studies
University of Pennsylvania