UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS
Introduction from the Director
The University of Notre Dame Press was established on August 17, 1949, and we have much to celebrate during our 75th anniversary year. While we are enormously proud of our accomplishments since our founding, our vision and ambition for the future are even greater.
Since its inception, Notre Dame Press has established an intellectually innovative, globally influential, and financially sustainable publishing program. Beyond the books we publish, we have pioneered new educational programming and publishing curriculum for students and faculty, and we have dramatically expanded the reach and impact of our publications. Over the years, the Press has evolved into a vital partner of Our Lady’s University, and it continues to fill an essential role in scholarly research and communication both on campus and around the world.
I hope you’ll join us in celebrating the Press’s historical successes, but our team is setting our sights even higher. By 2033, the University of Notre Dame has committed itself to becoming “the leading global Catholic research university, on par with but distinct from the world’s best private universities.” We believe that the leading global Catholic research university deserves a world class university press that advances human understanding and cultivates the best in Catholic intellectual endeavors.
As the largest Catholic university press in the world, based at the only religious university with membership in the Association of American Universities, it is imperative for Notre Dame Press to achieve excellence as a publisher; to establish preeminence in its core publishing areas of religion, philosophy, and political science; and to enhance its standing in the areas of history, Latin American studies, and medieval studies.
“Notre Dame must be the leading global Catholic research university, on par with but distinct from the world’s best private universities. This effort to educate students and conduct research at the highest level animated by a distinctive Catholic mission is one of the most exciting and consequential experiments in global higher education.”
—”Notre Dame 2033: A Strategic Framework”
Introduction from the Director
I am delighted to present our 2024–2025 strategic framework that outlines these goals and our roadmap to achieve them. We have reaffirmed our aspirations to curate, produce, and disseminate exceptional and diverse scholarship, to nourish the Catholic intellectual tradition, and to invest in the future careers of both scholars and students. We will pursue new avenues to amplify the University’s areas of institutional excellence, and we will increase our engagement with the campus and South Bend communities. We will also develop strategies to wisely steward our financial resources and generate new revenue streams, while also cultivating our most essential resource—our team members—by creating further opportunities for them to develop and flourish.
Each objective presented in the strategic framework is paired with specific, actionable strategies that our team will undertake to pursue simultaneously the greater ambitions of the Press and the University. A primary goal articulated in the plan is to build toward sustainably and strategically enhancing the size, reputation, and influence of the Press over the next five years. This growth will have a direct impact on research, scholarship, and learning around the world.
Academic research and learning cannot exist in isolation, and Notre Dame Press plays a central role in the global knowledge ecosystem. Our books connect the work of individual scholars and experts with researchers, teachers, students, librarians, and the other members of the academic community. In a world facing increasing political, religious, and economic divisions, these connections are all the more essential.
With the expertise of our authors and staff and our solid foundation within the Catholic intellectual tradition, the Press is uniquely poised to publish and promote innovative, significant, and diverse scholarship in the pursuit of greater knowledge and understanding. We could not have come so far without the support of our authors, campus partners, donors, and readers. We are grateful for your support and friendship over the past 75 years, and I hope you will join us as we strive for even greater achievements in the decades to come.
Stephen M. Wrinn Director University of Notre Dame Press
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS
2024–2025 Strategic Framework
OVERVIEW
The largest Catholic university press in the world, the University of Notre Dame Press has published books that advance knowledge and impact lives for 75 years. Since its founding in 1949, Notre Dame Press has been dedicated to publishing the best in Catholic intellectual endeavors. Today, the Press publishes in areas that align with the academic strengths and strategic framework of the University of Notre Dame, including religion, philosophy, political science, history, Latin American studies, and medieval studies.
MISSION
Notre Dame Press encourages intellectual exploration on campus, across the country, and around the world. The Press connects the global scholarly community, makes accessible the ideas of today’s leading experts, and fosters the next generation of scholars and thinkers. The Press expands the reach, impact, and reputation of the University of Notre Dame through an innovative and sustainable publishing program that advances human understanding and engages the most enduring questions of our time.
VISION
Notre Dame Press believes in the power of books to change the world and aspires to be a leader in academic publishing, an advocate for scholarly communities, and a valuable partner on campus. The Press will empower innovative, significant, and diverse scholarship in the pursuit of knowledge.
“As the university strives to remain the world’s preeminent Catholic research university, it needs a press that also aspires to great things. Thankfully, we have that.”
—Patrick Griffin, director of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies, University of Notre Dame
2024–2025 Strategic Framework
Goal 1. Firmly establish Notre Dame Press as a top-tier university press in the eyes of scholars, on campus, and within the publishing community.
Objective 1. Empower exceptional and diverse scholarship by publishing discipline-shaping books that engage enduring questions.
Objective 2. Increase the prestige of the Press’s brand among scholars in core publishing areas, including theology, philosophy, and political science.
Objective 3. Build a stronger presence, both for the Press as a whole and for individual staff members, on campus and in the South Bend community.
Objective 4. Evaluate and refine current processes and partnerships to best meet the evolving needs of authors, readers, and a competitive industry landscape.
“I am honored to have been included among a distinguished group of scholars across a wide array of disciplines who have entrusted the fruit of their labors to the Press in service of the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness.”
—Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., President Emeritus, University of Notre Dame, author of Monk’s Tale
“I have worked with many publishing houses and many, many editors. No experience has been more gratifying than my dealings with Notre Dame Press. There I found scrupulous editors, wonderfully imaginative designers, and the highest intellectual standards.”
—David Bentley Hart, author of You Are Gods
2024–2025 Strategic Framework
Goal 2. Expand and deepen the University of Notre Dame’s impact and reputation as a premier research university.
Objective 1. Amplify areas of institutional excellence through the strategic alignment of publishing directions.
Objective 2. Curate a living record of the rich scholarship, history, and tradition of the University of Notre Dame.
Goal 3. Nourish the Catholic intellectual tradition by fostering meaningful conversations that span the diversity and breadth of Catholic thought.
Objective 1. Enhance the Catholic mission of the University by developing a strategic acquisitions plan in global Catholic thought.
Objective 2. Bolster the Catholic mission of the University through intentional marketing strategies that showcase the diversity, breadth, and impact of Catholic thought.
“By involving faculty and students in the review and publication of original work, Notre Dame Press enriches the university and, through the books it publishes, scholarly communities and others throughout the nation and the world. Multiply this a hundred times and one can begin to see the enormous impact that university presses have.”
—Thomas G. Burish, Provost Emeritus, University of Notre Dame
“From where I sit, Notre Dame Press is one of the top presses (by reputation and quality) in the field of theology. I encourage anyone who can to publish with NDP.”
—Tim Hartman, author of Theology after Colonization
2024–2025 Strategic Framework
Goal 4. Steward resources to cultivate a sustainable and innovative publishing program of the highest academic caliber.
Objective 1. Hone fiscal strategies, expand existing revenue streams, and investigate new income sources to generate $1.8 million in annual net sales revenue by 2028.
Objective 2. Develop and implement an effective professional development process, with opportunities for team members to build new skills and contribute to advancing the Press’s mission and goals.
Objective 3. Grow the Press’s development program to support mission-focused book projects and underwrite the greater financial costs of these important works.
Goal 5. Invest in scholars and students both on and beyond campus by providing publishing expertise and career development opportunities.
Objective 1. Educate scholars about publishing best practices, including proposal development and editorial recommendations, and provide industry expertise and connections.
Objective 2. Provide job training and professional mentoring to students through publishing workshops, internships, and 5+1 postdoctoral fellowships.
“Because I worked for the University of Notre Dame Press, I was completely immersed in how they do their craft and how that world operates. I was able to gain a definite edge when it came to applying for jobs.”
—Ana Jimenez-Moreno, ND ’16, acquisitions editor at The Ohio State University Press
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS
2023–2024 Bestsellers
