Courtesy of Andrew Hurley

Yale University Press Director John Donatich will retire on June 30, 2025, after serving in the position for over two decades, per an announcement from University President Peter Salovey last Friday.

Donatich said that he plans to return to writing after retiring. He assumed his current position on January 13, 2003. In his announcement, Salovey highlighted Donatich’s “many achievements” — among them Donatich’s $40-million fundraising efforts for the Press, the expansion of the Press’ award-winning trade lists and novel publishing and distribution partnerships.

Robert Weil ’77, Yale Press Board of Governors member and W.W. Norton’s executive editor and vice president, said Donatich mirrors Salovey’s “enthusiasm and vitality.” He said that given Donatich’s background running a trade house, Donatich understood what was “key” to a successful publishing house — namely, the backlist, or books that have been in print for at least one year, which “supplies a steady stream of money to underwrite the front list.”

“[Donatich] really had a huge hand in bringing Yale into the modern age as the stellar University Press and also hiring great people,” Weil said. “John has that business background combined with literature, which is very rare to find.”

Yale University Press is financially and operationally independent of the University and publishes over 400 books across multiple genres annually.

As director, Donatich said one of the best aspects of the job was the background he got in dealing with experts from a wide variety of fields, working with them to understand how their book would contribute to that field. He added that he has also learned how to adapt amid a changing world in publishing — namely, with the rise of artificial intelligence. 

 “I’ve [also] learned to try to keep a sense of balance as we juggle mission and survival and balance to keep our footing during all these kinds of radical changes in the publishing environment,” Donatich said. 

In 2023, Donatich oversaw a novel agreement for a new distributor partnership with W.W. Norton, bringing an end to a 22-year relationship with Lakeside Book Company, formerly known as Triliteral LLC. Donatich will lead the transition between distributors this upcoming fall until he retires. 

Donatich told the News that when considering whether to publish a book, he factors in the book’s “intellectual contribution,” its “financial responsibility” and the “luster” achieved by the Press for each book.

He said that these needs are part of finding a “balance” between being a nonprofit scholarly press that also tracks its success through publicity and book sales.

“This balance between serving mission and staying alive … I think it’s a good challenge, and I like that job,” Donatich said.

Yale Press director of editorial design and production Jenya Weinreb wrote to the News that it’s been an “honor” to work with Donatich for the entirety of his tenure at the University.

Weinreb also wrote that “with change comes challenges,” adding that while Yale Press’ next director will have a strong foundation of the Press’ books and staff to build on, they will also face numerous “unpredictable” challenges. 

“A huge amount of work happens behind the scenes in choosing, curating, developing, editing, designing, producing, distributing, marketing, selling, and accounting for all these books, and John has a hand in every part of it,” Weinreb wrote. 

Some of these challenges, Weinreb wrote, “already loom large” at Yale and abroad, including those of  “inclusivity, freedom of speech, and the promises and perils of AI.”

In the same vein, Donatich also said that he anticipates that adjusting to the digital age, particularly with AI,  will be among the topmost challenges for his successor.

Donatich said that in his final year at Yale Press, he intends to continue fundraising efforts and to “step back and mentor” employees. He added that he hopes this 16-month succession plan will leave the Press “suitable” for the next director to implement their own vision.

Per Salovey’s Friday announcement, the University will soon embark on a global search for Donatich’s successor. Donatich said that although he does not anticipate having a say in who his ultimate successor will be, he hopes and is “happy to offer” his opinions on the future needs of the Press.

Yale University Press was founded in 1908.