TheUniversity of Missouri Press is auniversity press operated by theUniversity of Missouri inColumbia, Missouri and London, England; it was founded in 1958 primarily through the efforts of English professor William Peden.[3] Many publications are by, for, and about Missourians. The press also emphasizes the areas of American and world history; military history; intellectual history; biography; journalism; African American studies; women's studies; American, British, and Latin American literary criticism; political science; regional studies; and creative nonfiction. The press has published 2,000 books and publishes about 30 mostly academic books a year.
The university proposed in spring 2012 to close the press and terminate its ten employees in order to end the university's subsidy to the press, estimated by the university administration as $400,000 per year and by outside critics of the closure decision as under $250,000 a year.[18] The decision was reversed in August 2012 after public outcry.[19] As part of the reorganization the press now reports up to the main Columbia campus rather than theUniversity of Missouri System.[20] A new director was hired in 2013.
