John McLeod Promoted to Chief Operating Officer & Director of Intellectual Property

The University of North Carolina Press is pleased to announce the promotion of John McLeod to the expanded role of Chief Operating Officer & Director of Intellectual Property.

In this position, McLeod will oversee contracts, rights, and intellectual property strategy, including emerging licensing opportunities related to artificial intelligence. He will continue to oversee the Office of Scholarly Publishing Services for now, with plans to expand the department and bring on new leadership in the coming year.

He will also take on a new role in partnership with Longleaf Services as Director of International Rights. In this capacity, he will manage translation rights across multiple client presses and represent UNC Press and partner presses at international rights conferences, starting with the Frankfurt Book Fair this fall.

“John has led the creation of our publishing services for over a decade,” said John Sherer, Spangler Family Director of the University of North Carolina Press. “This new role builds on that success and reflects a new investment in the licensing of intellectual property for the Press. I’m confident he’ll continue to be successful in supporting our evolving mission.”

McLeod has been with UNC Press for nearly 11 years. He founded the Office of Scholarly Publishing Services and previously oversaw the Press’s journals program. Over the past five years, he has also worked closely on expanding subsidiary rights across the Press. He most recently served as Chief Operating Officer & Director of the Office of Scholarly Publishing Services.

“I’m excited to take on this role and keep working on the IP side of things, especially as AI raises new questions,” said McLeod. “I’m also looking forward to continuing work on subsidiary rights and spending more time with the Longleaf team. There’s a lot happening in this space right now, and it’s a good time to be in it.”