The new leader of the University of Missouri Press says his top priority will be to get the organization’s finances in order, partly by publishing more science titles.

David Rosenbaum starts Nov. 1 as director of the academic publishing house, which nearly shut down last year. University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe wanted to close the organization but reversed that decision after it was harshly criticized by the publishing community and dozens of authors threatened to sue to return their publishing rights.

Getting the organization’s finances in order will be a challenge, Rosenbaum said.

“I don’t think anybody believes that, financially, the press is as stable as it ought to be,” he said. “Stabilizing the financial situation is a pretty important first step.”

Although he intends to maintain the Press’ core of arts and humanities titles, Rosenbaum said he wants to expand publishing into sciences and other professions.

“I think looking for titles in those areas and narrowing the focus of the editorial program are keys ways in which this operation can get more bang out of its marketing dollars,” said Rosenbaum, who said releasing more titles that mirror the university’s mission will raise the operation’s profile.

Before being hired at the Press, Rosenbaum was director of product development and project management for the American Heart Association, senior acquisitions editor at Elsevier, senior acquisitions editor at Delmar Cengage Learning and senior publisher and production manager at the Iowa State Press.

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