Effective July 1, Northern Illinois University Press will become an imprint of Cornell University Press. NIUP will continue to publish around 20 titles per year and retain its own acquisitions editor and a faculty press board. CUP, meanwhile, will handle editing, production, design, marketing, distribution and sales.
Northern Illinois University Press had been looking for a publishing partner since 2016, to help defray the costs of running a publishing program. NIUP was founded in 1965 and publishes titles in a variety of subject areas, including its Slavic, Orthodox Christian and Southeast Asian series. NIUP will be Cornell University Press's fifth imprint, after Comstock Publishing, Industrial and Labor Relations Press, the Southeast Asian Studies Publications and Three Hills.
"We are thrilled to be working with Cornell University and believe that Cornell University Press is the ideal partner for the NIU Press and our authors," said Gerald C. Blazey, v-p for research and innovation partnerships at NIU. "We are committed to seeing NIU Press thrive under its new relationship."
Dean Smith, director of Cornell University Press, said: "Our colleagues at NIUP have established an outstanding reputation for quality in several disciplines. This model will support their mission."
Originally founded in 1869, Cornell University Press was the first university press established in the United States.