UNC Press Welcomes Dawn Durante as Assistant Editorial Director

The University of North Carolina Press is delighted to announce that Dawn Durante will join its acquisitions editorial team as assistant editorial director, effective October 17, 2022.

Durante will commission and acquire general interest and scholarly work in history, African American and Africana studies, and other related fields. As a senior leader within the acquisitions department, she will also work closely with colleagues throughout the Press on strategic planning, new list development, and mentoring and professional development initiatives.

Durante is an accomplished publishing professional, serving most recently as editor-in-chief at the University of Texas Press, where she managed a team of five while acquiring in American studies, history, African American studies, and gender and sexuality studies. She previously spent nine years in acquisitions at the University of Illinois Press. Durante has also been active in the Association of University Presses, including current service on the association’s Admissions and Standards Committee and previous service chairing the Professional Development Committee. As a member of the association’s Task Force on Gender, Equity, and Cultures of Respect, she helped lead conversations throughout the university press community around necessary transformations in the publishing industry.

“It is an absolute honor to join the University of North Carolina Press,” said Durante. “The UNC Press team is doing truly visionary work with the commitments of their publishing program and their overall mission to serve authors and readers. As I step into this new role, I look forward to the opportunity to focus on acquisitions–with a continued emphasis on social justice issues–while also contributing to the strategic leadership of the editorial program. I am completely energized as I think about all of the opportunities and collaborations ahead!”

Mark Simpson-Vos, Wyndham Robertson Editorial Director said, “I’ve developed enormous respect for Dawn as an editor and leader within the university press community, and I’m thrilled to have someone with her skill and experience joining our team. She is going to be a terrific colleague, but I’m most excited for our authors, who are getting a passionate advocate for their words and ideas.”

Durante’s acquisitions portfolio will include the Press’s “Justice, Power, and Politics” series, co-edited by Heather Ann Thompson and Rhonda Y. Williams; its “Boundless South” series, co-edited by Karen Cox and Françoise Hamlin; and its new “Black Women’s History” series, co-edited by Daina Ramey Berry, Ashley Farmer, and Talitha LeFlouria.