Effective March 23, Walter Biggins became the new editor-in-chief at the University of Pennsylvania Press.

Mr. Biggins joined the Press from the University of Georgia Press where he served as executive editor; he had previously been at the University Press of Mississippi. An active member of the academic publishing community, Mr. Biggins has made many contributions over the years to the Association of University Presses, including service on the Annual Meeting Program Committee and the Standards and Admissions Committee. In addition to having built up remarkable lists in fields that range from American history and culture to media studies and diasporic studies, he brings a wealth of experience in managing and planning lists and seasonal schedules, shaping publishing workflows, establishing and running prizewinning series, creating successful mentoring programs and collaborating on campus initiatives.

Mr. Biggins is also a freelance writer. With Daniel Couch, he is the author of 33 1/3: Bob Mould’s Workbook (Bloomsbury, 2017), and his work has been published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Quarterly Conversation, Bookslut, RogerEbert.com, The Baseball Chronicle, and other periodicals.

Penn Press Director Mary Francis said, “We are delighted to have Walter joining our team.  In addition to bringing a distinctive editorial vision, Walter is a real leader in the university press community, and I know he will embrace a similar role as a leader for scholarly communication on the Penn campus.”