The University of Illinois Press was organized in 1918 to have charge of the work of editing, printing, and distributing the publications of the University. Prior to this, several books were published bearing the imprint University Studies. The Press is a general university division whose chief administrative officer is the Director of the University Press. The Director is appointed annually by the Board of Trustees, and is responsible to the University President through the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The operations and policies of the Press are maintained under advisement of a University Press Board composed of the Director, the Deans of the Graduate Colleges or their representatives, and six appointed faculty members.
The first director of the Press was Harrison E. Cunningham, who also served on the university's Board of Trustees. Under Cunningham's leadership, the Press published works of interest primarily to the scholarly reader, specifically monographs by faculty members and doctoral students. Cunningham gained a reputation for printing books in social science, language and literature, biological science, and medical science. In 1949 Wilbur Schramm became the director of the Press, founding the Institute for Communications Research and publishing several strong books in the field of communications. Following Schramm, Miodrag Muntyan and Richard L. Wentworth served as directors. During the 1960s and 70s the Press became a leading publisher of American social history, particularly for labor and working-class history. Developed by editor Judith McCulloh, the series Music in American Life continues to produce influential books. In 1999, Willis G. Regier became director, broadening its series and scope.
The Press has printed several academic journals since its inception. Some of these journals include: The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, the American Journal of Psychology, the Journal of American Folklore, Ethnomusicology, the Journal of Appalachian Studies, and the Journal of Sport History.
The Press continues to publish scholarly works. Priority is given to local manuscripts, but works produced at other institutions without presses are not excluded from consideration. Although the Press attempts to show a modest profit, it is not primarily a profit-making institution and receives subsidies from the Graduate College as well as from some foundations. The University of Illinois Press has sales representatives in Canada, the British Isles and Continental Europe, Latin America, and Japan.
Sources:Sixteen Years at the University of Illinois, (Urbana, 1920), p. 285.
University of Illinois Statutes, July 18, 1989, p. 12.
University of Illinois Student/Staff Directory, 1990-91, p. 55
The Book Publishing Program of the University of Illinois Press (informational pamphlet for faculty members), 1957, pp. 4-5.
University of Illinois Press "History of the Press," online at: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/about/history.html.
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