Mission and History

Dedicated to the dissemination of quality, peer-reviewed scholarly work, Purdue University Press selects, develops, and publishes valuable resources that add to our understanding of the world. Our program aligns with the University’s strengths in several key subject areas such as technology and engineering, aeronautics and astronautics, veterinary medicine, and other disciplines in the humanities and sciences. As the publishing arm of the University, the Press is deeply interwoven with campus, serving faculty, students, staff, departments, centers, and colleges. A list of our partnerships and initiatives with the University can be found here. The Press is also deeply committed to open access, offering many books and journals free of charge, hosted on Purdue e-Pubs, the University’s institutional text repository. The Press publishes twenty-five books a year and more than a dozen journals from authors all over the world, in addition to many projects by Purdue community members through its Scholarly Publishing Services division.

The roots of the Press date back to September 29, 1960, when President Frederick Hovde announced the establishment of “Purdue University Studies” with a $12,000 grant from the Purdue Research Foundation. This was the result of a committee appointed by President Hovde after the English Department had lamented the lack of publishing venues in the humanities. The first book, The Paradox of George Orwell, was published in 1961. After a decade of steady growth, in 1974 Purdue University Studies became Purdue University Press, and in 1993 the organization was admitted to membership of the Association of University Presses.

Though much has changed since its founding, the Press remains dedicated to its fundamental mission: publishing impactful, peer-reviewed scholarship that aligns with the University’s strengths and supports Purdue’s mission to serve Indiana, the nation, and the world. Whatever changes the future brings, the Press will continue to support Purdue and Indiana while publishing content for a global audience that helps us better understand the world and our place in it.