Join authors Tom Jones ’69, MRP ’72 and Kenneth Womack as they share their own fascinating stories and answer your questions about what it’s like to work with Cornell’s dynamic global publisher. The press, established in 1869 and the earliest American university press, publishes more than 175 new books a year, from scholarly to general interest titles.  Its early and notable authors include Anna Botsford Comstock, Linus Pauling, Carl Sagan, Barbara Kingsolver, and Frank H. T. Rhodes, who each helped to share the press’s enduring pledge to change the world one book at a time.

About our speakers: 

Thomas W. Jones is the author of the  memoir From Willard Straight to Wall Street published by Cornell University Press. Apart from his degrees at Cornell and Boston University, he holds honorary doctoral degrees from Howard University, Pepperdine University, and the College of New Rochelle.  At Cornell, Jones is a trustee emeritus, a Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Awardee, and a Presidential Councillor, the university’s highest distinction.

Kenneth Womack is a world-renowned authority on the Beatles and their enduring cultural influence. He is the author of a two-volume biography of the life and work of Beatles producer George Martin.  Womack is Dean of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey.  He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Texas A&M University and a PhD in English from Northern Illinois University.  His latest book, Solid State:  The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles, was published by the Cornell University Press in October 2019.