Design and Production Expert Awarded 2010 AAUP Constituency Award in Memoriam
NEW YORK— The Association of American University Presses (AAUP) posthumously awarded the 2010 AAUP Constituency Award to Will Powers, for 11 years the design and production manager at the Minnesota Historical Society Press (MHSP). The award was established in 1991 to honor staff at member presses who have demonstrated active leadership and service to the association and the university press community.
The award was announced on June 17 at the 2010 AAUP Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City. Betsy Litz, Production Manager at Princeton University Press, introduced the award, describing Powers as “embody[ing] everything that is so wonderful about the AAUP.” The award was accepted by Pamela McClanahan, director of the Minnesota Historical Society Press, on behalf of his wife, Cheryl Miller.
Among Powers’ numerous accomplishments while at the MHS Press, five of the projects he worked on were honored by the annual AAUP Book, Jacket, and Journal Show. He began his career in publishing as a typesetter at Stinehour Press in Vermont. He went on to establish his own fine press, Amaranth Press in San Francisco, while also doing editorial work for the University of California Press and North Point Press. Moving to Minneapolis in 1988, he worked briefly for an advertising agency, and returned to book design with Stanton Publishing Services (BookMobile) before assuming his role at MHSP.
Over the years, Powers served the AAUP community in a variety of ways, with a remarkable generosity of spirit. Colleagues remember his willingness to share advice and information with others on the AAUP email lists, and to mentor students, interns, and young colleagues. He moderated and participated in numerous panels at the production managers and annual meetings. At the 2004 Annual Meeting, he distributed a chapbook he had developed, New Types for New Books: What We Have; What We Need, which subsequently went into three printings. He was a member of the Design & Production Committee in 2007, and served as its chair in 2008.
Powers passed away on August 25, 2009. Together, the Minnesota Historical Society Press and his wife Cheryl Miller compiled a chapbook celebrating his life and work, A Tribute to Will Powers, where colleagues, family, and friends shared memories and photographs.
Recent winners of the AAUP Constituency Award include Tony Crouch, University of California Press (2009); Robbie Dircks, University of North Carolina Press (2008); Paul Murphy, RAND Corporation (2007); and Jennifer Crewe, Columbia University Press (2006).
Read more about the history of the Constituency Award and see its complete Honor Roll.