Congratulations Chuck Grench, UNC Press Executive Editor Emeritus!

Chuck Grench, UNC Press Executive Editor emeritus, has won the Gordon Bakken Award of Merit from the Western History Association, which is given for outstanding service to the field of western history and to the Western History Association. Please join us in congratulating him on this wonderful accomplishment!

“Soon after Chuck Grench joined the UNC Press acquisitions team in 2000, I remember him urging at one of our annual planning days that we follow the dynamism around new histories of the American west, in order to expand and strengthen our publishing presence in American history writ large. As usual, Chuck’s instincts were impeccable. He knew what his colleagues quickly learned: the WHA was nurturing some of the most exciting new historical work by broadening its constituencies and embracing a wider range of subjects and methods. And Chuck himself was an integral part of that process, helping to steer friends and colleagues in the field toward promising projects, often grounded in his personal fascination with the underlying historical actors and questions. His role in fostering excellent work over 40 years in scholarly publishing has clearly been a great gift to the community of western historians, and it’s wonderful to see him honored by the WHA in this fashion.”

– Mark Simpson-Vos, Wyndham Robertson Editorial Director at the University of North Carolina Press

“For Ben Johnson and me, working with Chuck on the David J. Weber Series in the New Borderlands History was among the most satisfying experiences of our careers, and we remain incredibly grateful to Chuck for taking a chance on us when we first came to him with this germ of an idea in fall 2011.  From the start, Chuck brimmed with enthusiasm, smart ideas, and above all a clear determination to get things done.  His can-do spirit animated us and countless UNC authors—Weber Series and otherwise—and, along with his exquisite editorial acumen and sly sense of humor, made him a treasure to the Western history profession and of course exceptionally deserving of the Bakken Award.”

– Andrew R. Graybill, professor of history and Director of the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University, David J. Weber Series in the New Borderlands History series editor

“I am one of many WHA members who are thrilled that Chuck Grench has won the Gordon Bakken Award of Merit. I had the honor of being the author of the last book Chuck launched into production. It was a sprawling, unruly, and yet intimate project. Through it all, Chuck’s steady hand, patient demeanor, and unusual foresight allowed clarity to emerge from too many stories, too many ideas, and too many urgencies. I came to understand how he earned his reputation as the best in the business.”

– Susan Lee Johnson, Harry Reid Endowed Chair for the History of the Intermountain West at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, President of the Western History Association, and the author of Writing Kit Carson: Fallen Heroes in a Changing West