Former NEH Digital Humanities Director Honored
Digital humanities advocate and funding champion Brett Bobley is the recipient of this year’s Stand UP Award from the Association of University Presses (AUPresses).
The Stand UP Award honors those individuals or groups who through their words and actions have supported, defended, and celebrated the university press community and mission.
As the founding Director of the Office of Digital Humanities (ODH) within the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Bobley helped to apply digital technologies to the advancement of humanities scholarship for nearly 20 years. The programs and funding opportunities that he championed empowered university presses to use these technologies to experiment, collaborate, and reach new audiences. In addition to the NEH Cares grants provided to presses and the direct support offered to scholars during the COVID-19 pandemic, the NEH ODH under Bobley’s leadership implemented groundbreaking programs, such as NEH/Mellon backlist digitization projects and the Fellowships Open Book program, that expanded the accessibility and impact of university press publications.
Bobley’s ODH team also led numerous international programs, such as the Digging into Data Challenge, NEH/Arts and Humanities Research Council New Directions for Digital Scholarship in Cultural Institutions, and the NEH/DFG German Research Foundation Bilateral Digital Humanities Program, bringing together 16 funding agencies from 11 nations to co-fund the building of technological infrastructure to support high-quality humanities scholarship.
“Thanks to Brett’s steadfast commitment, university presses have benefited from increased capacity to explore digital scholarship, expand their reach, and push the boundaries of what is possible in academic publishing,” said AUPresses executive director Peter Berkery. “We are deeply grateful for his support and inspired by the spirit of innovation and collaboration he brought to the field.”
“Brett met university presses where they were, with an acute understanding of the risks associated with open access (OA),” said nominator John Sherer, Spangler Family Director of the University of North Carolina Press and co-investigator of an NEH grant awarded to AUPresses to study the impact of OA digital on print sales. “Brett saw presses as partners in dismantling barriers to access of humanistic knowledge. He understood as well as any of us that the best way to enhance the value of the book is by making it as easy as possible for people to read the book.”
“Brett’s unique blend of philosophical insight and technical expertise has helped transform the landscape of scholarly publishing,” said nominator Charles Watkinson, director of the University of Michigan Press. “By fostering open access, supporting digital infrastructure projects, and encouraging the adoption of new platforms and tools, he has ensured that university presses remain vibrant and responsive to the evolving needs of scholars and the public alike.”
“Under Brett Bobley’s vision and leadership, the NEH Office of Digital Humanities has made a significant contribution to the emergence of new scholarly forms,” said Allison Levy, director of Brown University Digital Publications. “For example, thanks to the ODH’s Institute for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities program, we have been able to train 30 scholars from under-resourced institutions to develop born-digital monographs, opening up exciting possibilities for creative expression and expanded access to scholarly ideas. The impact of his support will be global and long lasting.”
“Brett has been a critical connection between the academic digital humanities community and the university press community,” said Alan Harvey, director of Stanford University Press. “His presence and understanding of the field gave us all confidence that there was a willing funder and partner for this evolving discipline.”
Brett Bobley was the founding Director of the NEH Office of Digital Humanities from 2006 to 2025 and also served as the NEH’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) from 1997 to 2025. He received a CIO Council Leadership Award from the US Office of Management and Budget in 2006 and a Presidential Rank Award for outstanding service the following year. He holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Chicago and an M.S. in computer science from the Johns Hopkins University.
He currently advises the Schmidt Sciences’ Humanities and AI Virtual Institute (HAVI) grant program.
Berkery will present the award to Bobley during the Coalition for Networked Information Fall 2025 Membership Meeting in Washington, DC, on Friday, December 12. Bobley will be one of the meeting’s speakers.
Read more about the Stand UP Award and past winners here.