JoAnne Banducci has been selected to run the University of Nevada Press on the campus of the University of Nevada Reno.. She joined the press in 2009 as the business manager and has served as interim director of the press since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.
Established in 1961, the University of Nevada Press publishes scholarly works, creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry that focus on the geographic area of the West and the subjects that define its unique character. The press published 21 books in 2020 and 21 books in 2021.
“The variety of what we get to work on is exciting. We bring all kinds of books out into the world to help educate people,” Banducci said. “With my background, I look forward to running the Press more like a business. My predecessors in this role have come from acquisitions or marketing, but with my background in business management, I will approach operations from a different perspective.”
“The University of Nevada Press, ever since its founding, has greatly enriched the collective history and storytelling associated with Nevada as well as of the West. It possesses a significant role in the offerings of what a Carnegie R1 institution like ours has in ensuring the enduring value of works that are of intellectual and cultural significance,” University of Nevada, Reno President Brian Sandoval said. “JoAnne’s leadership is already having a profound impact on how this mission is being accomplished by championing titles and storytelling that speak to the diverse communities of our state, as well as the work of our own faculty in key areas such as sustainability and the environment. The university couldn’t be more excited about the Press’ direction, and how it is meeting the literary and scholarly needs of Nevada.”