Veteran Editor Deborah Gershenowitz Joins UNC Press Editorial Team

The University of North Carolina Press is delighted to announce that Deborah Gershenowitz will join its acquisitions editorial team as executive editor, effective November 1, 2019.

Gershenowitz will commission and acquire expansively in American and transnational history, with special interests in the histories of race and ethnicity, histories of gender and sexuality, law and legal history, and military history. She will be based in New York City.

Gershenowitz is an accomplished editor with a record of developing award-winning books in history, law, and related fields. Since 2012 she has been senior editor for American and Latin American history at Cambridge University Press. While at Cambridge she commissioned trade, reference, and scholarly books by distinguished authors including Martha Jones, Richard J. M. Blackett, Sarah Barringer Gordon, Alejandro de la Fuente, Ariela Gross, Aaron Sheehan-Dean, Pierre Asselin, Edmund Russell, and more. Working with colleagues in Cambridge University Press’s journals division, Gershenowitz also helped create the new journal Modern American History. Before joining the acquisitions staff at Cambridge University Press, she spent ten years as editor and senior editor at New York University Press. She also held previous editorial positions at Scribner’s and Palgrave Macmillan. She holds a graduate degree in history from Indiana University.

As executive editor, Gershenowitz will help lead a strategic expansion of UNC Press’s acquisitions program, extending the Press’s core strengths in the history of the Americas and building in new directions. “I can’t think of a better person to help us grow our list as UNC Press embarks on its second century of publishing,” said UNC Press Editorial Director Mark Simpson-Vos. “Debbie has consistently earned the admiration of her peers and the affection of her authors. We are thrilled to have her join our team.”

“From my days as a graduate student, when UNC Press books formed the bulk of the U.S. history canon, to the decades I’ve spent as an editor, I’ve applauded—and frequently envied—the Press’s award-winning lists,” Gershenowitz said. “I am honored by the opportunity to join the Press’s team. With the Press’s centenary approaching in 2022, I’m excited to build on its acclaimed backlist as I propel the list forward with books for academics and general readers around the world.”

Gershenowitz joins an already strong acquisitions team that includes editorial director Simpson-Vos, executive editors Chuck Grench and Elaine Maisner, senior editor Brandon Proia, and editor Lucas Church.

Founded in 1922, UNC Press is the oldest university press in the South and one of the oldest in the United States.

Contact: Alison Shay, Publicist, UNC Press (ashay@uncpress.org)