Founded in 1974, Texas A&M University Press is the principal publishing arm of one of this nation’s leading research institutions. The Press's primary mission is to select, produce, market, and disseminate scholarly publications of outstanding quality and originality and thereby help the University achieve its paramount purposes of teaching, research, public service, and dissemination of the results of scholarly inquiry. In conjunction with the long-term development of its editorial program, the Press draws on and supports the intellectual activities of the University and reflects the standards and stature of scholarship that are fostered by this institution.

 

The Press falls under the administrative aegis of the Provost the chief academic officer of the University, and is an integral part of its parent institution. The Press imprint is controlled by an Advisory Committee composed of senior members of the University's faculty, who are chosen for their own scholarly acumen and publishing experience. Manuscripts, whether by outside authors or by members of the Texas A&M faculty (currently around fifteen percent of our total author list), must have been reviewed favorably by both the Press's director and editorial staff and at least two experts in that field before being submitted to the Faculty Advisory Committee for approval. Of the hundreds of manuscripts and proposals that come to the Press each year, most do not survive this rigorous selection process.

 

The Press’s editorial interests span a range of significant fields, including agriculture, anthropology, nautical archaeology, architecture, borderland studies, economics, military history, natural history, presidential studies, veterinary medicine, and works on the history and culture of Texas and the surrounding region. Many of these fields of interest reflect outstanding departmental and programmatic strengths at Texas A&M University. Overall, the Press seeks to maintain high standards in traditional areas of academic inquiry while also exploring innovative fields of research and new forms of scholarly communication.

 

The Press currently publishes around seventy new titles a year in these fields. Of the total of around 930 books published by the Press in its twenty-five-year history, the great majority remain in print or are available in on-demand and electronic editions. Through the A&M Press Consortium, the Press markets and distributes nearly a thousand additional titles published by seven other institutions in this region, including TCU Press, SMU Press, the University of North Texas Press, Texas Review Press at Sam Houston State University, State House/McWhiney Foundation Press at McMurry University, Winedale Publishing, and the Texas State Historical Association. Both the Press’s own inventory and distributed books from the Consortium members, which combine for a grand total of more than 1.1 million units, are housed in the Press’s excellent facility, the John H. Lindsey Building, which also provides office and meeting space for the Press’s staff of twenty-four full-time employees.

 

Throughout its history, the Press’s books have won many competitive grants and awards. These include more than 200 literary awards, such as the Roland H. Bainton Book Prize for Art History, the Harry S. Truman Award, the Western Heritage Award, several Outstanding Academic Books awards from Choice Magazine, and other coveted prizes from the American Association for State and Local History, the Texas State Historical Association, the Wildlife Society, the Texas Institute of Letters, the Southern Historical Association, and the Texas Historical Commission, as well as a Finalist for the National Book Award. The Press has also received dozens of awards for design and production, from the Chicago Book Clinic, the Southern Books Competition, and the annual Book and Jacket Show of the Association of American University Presses, among other distinguished competitions.

 

Throughout its history, the Press has enjoyed an extraordinary level of support from the entire Texas A&M community, and that support has been essential to the Press’s remarkable growth. Illustrious Aggie and Texas leaders in many fields have provided funds to underwrite named book series in particular subject areas or support general operations.