Former MIT Press director Frank Urbanowski died on September 19 in Essex Junction, Vt. after a long illness. He was 79.
Urbanowski, who served as director of the press from June 1975 to January 2003, is acknowledged as a pioneer of focused disciplinary specialization at university presses. Through focusing acquisitions and marketing efforts on a small number of selected disciplines, he grew the press from $3 million to $22 million in annual revenue.
Among the other highlights of Urbanowski’s career at MIT were the creation of the first university press website and the publication of the first interactive e-book, William Mitchell’s City of Bits (1994). He also founded the MIT Press Bookstore in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Mass., in 1981.
Current MIT Press director Amy Brand, who served as an acquisitions editor reporting to Urbanowski in the 1990s, said, “I and the staff of the MIT Press are deeply saddened by the news of Frank’s passing. Not only was he a remarkable leader and mentor to many of us, but he was an extremely decent and warm human being.”
The family will hold a private ceremony in Vermont. Plans are being finalized for a memorial service.
