It is with great sadness that we at the Press acknowledge the passing of Richard S. Dunn, founding director of the McNeil Center for Early American Studies and founding editor of the book series Early American Studies. A cooperative venture between the Press and the Center, the series published its first volume in 1996 and, over the past quarter century, has seen the publication of some 125 books, across the fields of early American history, literature, and art history.
During his long tenure as a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, Dunn and the Press collaborated on many other fruitful endeavors. In addition to serving on the Press’s faculty editorial board, Dunn was principal co-editor of The Papers of William Penn, published by the Press in five volumes. Dunn also founded Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, which he would bring to the Press in 2003 and which would inaugurate the Press’s journals program.
A gifted scholar and mentor, the loss of Dunn’s presence is a great one to the Press, to the intellectual community of the McNeil Center, and to the field of early American history.
Our colleagues at the McNeil Center have also shared a statement.
