By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
See also: AAP’s November StatShot: US Revenues Down 6 Percent Year to Date
Pallante: ‘Values and Objectives of the Industry’
In Washington, DC, today (January 25), the Association of American Publishers (AAP) has announced that Julia A. Reidhead is the association’s new board chair for the 2023-2024 cycle.
Reidhead is chair and president of WW Norton, a publisher based in New York City. Reidhead has been an AAP board member since 2020, and was vice-chair in the 2022-2023 cycle.
WW Norton is observing its 100th anniversary this year.
The AAP’s immediate past chair, Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch, has been a board member since 2013 and an officer since 2021.
The chair prior to Pietsch’s term, is Brian Napack, an association director since 2017 and the John Wiley & Sons president and CEO. Napack has been returned to the position of vice-president of the board, having served as chair from September 2020 to0 January 2022.
The board has also re-elected Jeremy North to a fourth term as treasurer of the association. North, a director since 2015 and an officer since 202 , is managing director of books for Taylor & Francis.
Reidhead: ‘Pressing Challenges’
Julia A. Reidhead
In a prepared statement on being named the new board chair, Reidhead is quoted, saying, “The AAP board of directors has a long and distinguished track record of effective stewardship.”
“It’s a privilege to assume the role of chair, to work hand-in-hand with my fellow board members and AAP’s talented team, to represent the many large and small publishers in this essential industry, and to address the extremely pressing challenges that will have a direct impact on the immediate and long-term vitality of publishing—from incentivizing copyright markets to facilitating critical dialogues around free speech, diversity, and sustainability.”
Maria A. Pallante
And in welcoming Reidhead’s election, AAP president and CEO Maria A. Pallante says, “Julia Reidhead leads a historic publishing house at WW Norton that has long been committed to independent authorship, groundbreaking scholarship, and robust education, or put another way, the values and objectives of the modern publishing industry.
“Her tenure as AAP’s chair coincides with alarming attacks on the laws and policies that make publishing markets possible, including efforts to normalize piracy, undercut licensing, and sanction censorship. But what good fortune to have this chair, this set of officers, and this board acting in service to the industry at this important time.
“Additionally, the AAP community is indebted to outgoing chair Michael Pietsch for his tireless, clear-sighted leadership at the helm.
“Among many 2022 highlights under his watch is the Maryland district court’s unequivocal affirmation in AAP v. Frosh that it “is only through the protection of copyright that books and other creative works may be generated and distributed at all.”
The association has also launched two new member programs this month, one on diversity, equality, and inclusion, and the other on environmental stewardship. These efforts reflet work that was actively backed by previous AAP chairs John Sargent, Brian Napack, and Michael Pietsch.
Also in January, the board has welcomed Vikram Savkar, senior vice president and general manager of medical markets at Wolters Kluwer Health,as its newest director.
Board members who joined in 2022 comprise:
- Blaise Simqu, CEO of SAGE Publications
- James Milne, president of American Chemical Society Publications
- Jon Yaged, president of Macmillan Publishers US
- Tom ap Simon, president of Pearson Higher Education and Virtual Learning
The Association of American Publishers is one of the largest and most influential of the 92 member-associations of the International Publishers Association (IPA), and it represents the States as one of the 76 countries represented by the IPA.
More from Publishing Perspectives on the Association of American Publishers is here, and on the International Publishers Association is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the global media partner of the International Publishers Association.