Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921[3] by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 Duke University Press was formally established. Ernest Seeman became the first director of DUP, followed by Henry Dwyer (1929–1944), W.T. LaPrade (1944–1951), Ashbel Brice (1951–1981), Richard Rowson (1981–1990), Larry Malley (1990–1993), Stanley Fish and Steve Cohn (1994–1998), Steve Cohn (1998–2019). Writer Dean Smith is the current director of the press.[4]
It publishes approximately 150 books annually and more than 55 academic journals, as well as five electronic collections.[5] The company publishes primarily in the humanities and social sciences but is also particularly well known for its mathematics journals. The book publishing program includes lists in African studies, African American studies, American studies, anthropology, art and art history, Asian studies, Asian American studies, Chicano/Latino and Latin American studies, cultural studies, film and TV studies, indigenous and Native American studies, music, political and social theory, queer theory/LGBT studies, religion, science studies, and women's and gender studies.[6]
The press was founded in 1921 as Trinity College Press with William T. Laprade as its first director. Following a restructuring and expansion, the name was changed to "Duke University Press" in 1926 with William K. Boyd taking over as director.[7]
ARTnews named Duke University Press to its 2021 Deciders list, saying "Many a university press publishes worthy books about art—but none engages the subject and all it can mean quite like Duke University Press."[8] In 2022, Amsterdam news stated, "Duke University Press is a leading academic publisher that has been pushing the envelope in Black non-fiction for the past decade. Their catalog becomes more robust each year by choosing Black thinkers who are ahead of the curve and experts in their fields."[9]
In February 2021, Duke University Press announced the formation of the Scholarly Publishing Collective, a partnership with nonprofit scholarly journal publishers and societies to provide journal services including subscription management, fulfillment, hosting, and institutional marketing and sales.[10]
Open access
Duke is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach to funding open access books.[11] Duke has provided books for the Pilot Collection.[12] The press has also published nearly 100 additional books through other open access programs, including Towards an Open Monograph Ecosystem.
