University of North Carolina Press Sales Director Recognized for Service and Leadership
Austin, Texas — For his relentless commitment to the scholarly publishing community, Michael Donatelli, Sales Director at the University of North Carolina Press, was honored at the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, with the 2017 AAUP Constituency Award.
Established in 1991, the AAUP Constituency Award honors individuals at AAUP member presses who has demonstrated active leadership and exemplary service, not only in service to the Association but to the entirety of the scholarly publishing community. Since 1997, Donatelli has served terms on the AAUP Marketing Committee and the National Sales Account Task Force, as well as actively participating in numerous panels at Annual Meetings, including “Sales Task Force Engagement,” “Cataclysmic Changes in Bookstore Buying and Selling,” and, most recently, “The Amazing 21st-Century Sales Manager.”
“His creativity in finding new sales outlets for university press books, his devotion to our industry, and his untiring willingness to share knowledge and mentor younger colleagues throughout the AAUP all demonstrate his positive impact on individuals and member presses in our organization,” says Dennis Lloyd, Director of the University of Wisconsin Press. “Michael has always favored substance over style, and his upcoming retirement will leave a void in our community that will be difficult to fill.”
Donatelli’s passion for the important role university press publishing plays in combating anti-intellectualism and “alternative facts” is also clear. “We do very important work in the university press world—disseminate information based on evidence and fact, not just whim,” he said. “It seems ignorance has become a virtue.” A virtue Donatelli is resisting, through the books he supports, the work he does, and especially through mentorship.
John P. Hussey, Senior Key Account Sales and Manager, Ingram Content, said “[Michael’s] ultimate service to the AAUP is in the legacy of the sales people he trained, mentored, and guided throughout the years. There’s an entire generation of university press marketers, sales representatives, and thought leaders who are only where they are because of the selflessness of Mike Donatelli: and to this I speak with certainty—because I’m proud to be one of them.”
Donatelli holds a B.A. in History from Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts and an M.A in European History from Providence College in Rhode Island.
Recent winners of the AAUP Constituency Award also include Greg Britton, Johns Hopkins University Press (2016); Carol Kasper, University of Chicago Press (2015); and Bob Oeste, Johns Hopkins University Press (2014).
Read more about the history of the Constituency Award and see its complete Honor Roll.