News from UNC Press: Retirement of Senior Executive Editor Mark Simpson-Vos

I’m writing today to announce that after nearly three decades of service to the university press community, Mark Simpson-Vos will be retiring this summer from UNC Press. 

There’s not enough space here to capture the wide range of contributions Mark has made as an editor, mentor, and leader. As an editor, his range had almost no limits. He acquired countless trade books  for the Press’s regional list and Civil War list, from reference works to narrative histories to hiking and nature guides. He has published a New York Times bestseller and a book whose author made an appearance on Dr. Phil’s television show. But he also helped many scholarly authors realize their vision to reach an audience beyond the academy, with books that have won almost every conceivable award including the Bancroft Prize and the Lincoln Prize. His scholarly lists included American history, religion, education, African American studies, gender studies, American studies, and music. He launched the Press’s award-winning indigenous studies list in 2003 and similarly built our environmental history list in the late 2000s, while working with colleagues to chart our expansion into a number of other fields.  

He was a part of my leadership team for a decade but started at the Press in 1998 as a part-time editorial and administrative assistant.  He also spent time as assistant manuscript editor before beginning his acquisitions career as assistant to the Press’s then-editor-in chief in 1999. Within two years he was an acquiring editor, and he was eventually named editorial director in 2011. He served on numerous external boards and committees, including service on the AUPresses board. He has also represented UNC Press in its long-running partnership with the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.  

So much of the success we’ve enjoyed at the Press over the last decade is attributable to Mark. Perhaps his most generous act was hiring a team of new editors and leaders who stand ready to fill his very large shoes.  

And like many of you, working with Mark has made me a friend of Mark’s. I will always be grateful for his efforts to make my arrival here as painless as possible. And I’ll deeply miss the chance to catch up with him on a daily basis on family, music, politics, sports, and of course, books.  

—John Sherer, Spangler Family Director, UNC Press