University of Missouri Provost, Brian Foster, announced Friday David Rosenbaum as director of the University of Missouri Press. Rosenbaum is currently the director of product development and project management for the American Heart Association.
Rosenbaum will start on November 1st. He replaces Jane Lago, former managing editor at the press, who came out of retirement to serve as interim director in October 2012.
“David brings to Mizzou a very aggressive, out-of-the-box perspective that will be very important in making the press successful in the current publishing environment,” said Foster.
The University of Missouri Press, which was shuttered last year before being reopened after protests by the faculty, has been without a permanent director for more than 5 years. Dwight Browne served as interim director for over four years before retiring last year.
“I’m very optimistic about the University of Missouri Press and this opportunity,” Rosenbaum said. “I’m convinced that the university will support the press as long as the press is committed to making improvements to help itself financially.”
Rosenbaum, who managed the domestic and international publishing branches of the AHA, also has experience in non-profit and academic publishing. He served as a senior editor at publishers Elsevier and Cengage Learning as well as production manager and senior publisher at the Iowa State Press.
“David’s experience goes beyond scholarly publishing…it is this diverse background that feeds his unique perspective,” Foster said. “We’re very excited to have him on board.”
Rosenbaum was one of three finalists for the position announced in August. Also considered were Clair Willcox, current University of Missouri press associate director and editor-in-chief and Leila Salisbury, director of the University Press of Mississippi.
