Cambridge University Press Managing Director Mandy Hill said receiving the prestigious R.R. Hawkins Award was  “a real honor for Cambridge” and “an extraordinary achievement” for winning author David Eltis.

By Andrew Richard Albanese, Editor-in-Chief

The Association of American Publishers today announced the winners of its 5oth annual PROSE Awards, with Cambridge University Press taking the R.R. Hawkins Award—the program’s top honor—for Atlantic Cataclysm: Rethinking the Atlantic Slave Trades by David Eltis.

In a statement, PROSE Chief Judge Nigel Fletcher-Jones said Eltis’s winning work stood out among “an impressive crowd of competitors.” Fletcher-Jones called Atlantic Cataclysm “a carefully researched, data-driven analysis that dramatically challenges long-held assumptions of the Atlantic slave trade and its aftermath,” and that has created “a new understanding of this pivotal period in world history.”

Established in 1976, the AAP’s annual PROSE Awards recognize publishers whose “books, journals, and digital products” are “of extraordinary merit” and that make “a significant contribution to a field of study.”

For the 2026 PROSE Awards, a panel of judges selected 101 finalists and 37 category winners, from which the winner of the R.R. Hawkins Award was selected as well as major category winners in biological sciences, social sciences, and physical sciences and mathematics.

In a statement, Cambridge University Press Managing Director Mandy Hill said receiving the prestigious R.R. Hawkins Award was  “a real honor for Cambridge” and “an extraordinary achievement” for Eltis.

“Atlantic Cataclysm: Rethinking the Atlantic Slave Trades is rightly recognized for its outstanding contribution to academic scholarship,” Hill said “This award also reflects the shared commitment and close partnership that underpin exceptional publishing. David’s extraordinary scholarship, supported by the dedication and expertise of our publishing team, have enabled us to bring this important piece of work to readers around the world.”

Hill also noted that 2026 was a strong year for Cambridge University Press, with 20 finalists in total for this year’s PROSE awards, the most in the press’s history and the most of any publisher this year. In addition to taking the Hawkins award, Cambridge author Wojciech Hubert Zurek also took the top honor in the physical sciences and mathematics category.

Areas of Excellence Winners

In addition to the R.R. Hawkins Award, the three additional major category winners announced this week include:

PROSE Award for Excellence in Biological & Life Sciences: Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery by Mallary Tenore Tarpley, published by Simon and Schuster.

PROSE Award for Excellence in Social Sciences: The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution by Keith Richotte, Jr., published by Stanford University Press.

PROSE Award for Excellence in Physical Sciences & Mathematics: Decoherence and Quantum Darwinism: From Quantum Foundations to Classical Reality published by Wojciech Hubert Zurek, Cambridge University Press.

“For fifty years, the PROSE Awards have honored the publishers who deliver the very best in professional and scholarly publishing, and I am delighted to say that the houses behind this year’s Excellence Awards winners have continued that tradition, with stellar works representing all four of the PROSE Categories,” said AAP Chief Operating Officer Syreeta Swann. “Even as we congratulate this year’s exceptional group of honorees, we also applaud each and every PROSE award-winning publishing house that has delivered ground-breaking works over the past half-century. Bravo to all!”

The full list of finalists and category winners is available here.