Kenan Trust Awards UNC Press $1.5 Million Challenge Grant to Endow Directorship for Publishing Services Division

Grant will establish a $3 million endowment supporting leadership of UNC Press’s Office of Scholarly Publishing Services

CHAPEL HILL, NC, UNITED STATES, October 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Chapel Hill, N.C. — The University of North Carolina Press is pleased to announce a $1.5 million challenge grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust to create the endowed William R. Kenan Jr. Director of the Office of Scholarly Publishing Services (OSPS). To meet the challenge, the Press must raise $1.5 million in new gifts by June 2028, creating a $3 million endowment to provide enduring support for the position.

UNC Press launched OSPS a decade ago to help UNC System campuses, agencies, and nonprofit organizations publish content created at their institutions. Endowing the position will permit the Press to hire a permanent, dedicated leader focused exclusively on expanding and enhancing the work of OSPS.
“In recognition of the Press’s 100th anniversary in 2022 and its unwavering commitment to improving education for all North Carolinians, the Kenan Trust is proud to extend this challenge grant in support of The Office of Scholarly Publishing Services to elevate access to high-quality learning materials on UNC campuses and in communities throughout North Carolina,” said Nancy Cable, Kenan Trust Executive Director.

“Our public universities have a special obligation not just to create knowledge, but to make it available and useful for the people of North Carolina,” said UNC System President Peter Hans. “UNC Press does great work making scholarship accessible for students, faculty, and everyone in our state. I’m grateful to the Kenan Trust for helping us do even more to put knowledge to work for our citizens.”

“OSPS has allowed UNC Press to take what we do best and make that expertise available to partners across the UNC System and beyond,” said John Sherer, UNC Press Spangler Family Director. “Endowing this position gives us the permanent capacity to grow that work and serve more faculty, students, and institutions. The Kenan Trust made a similar challenge grant to the Press at its 75th anniversary, and we are incredibly grateful for another investment with the potential to be as transformational.”

“From publishing groundbreaking scholarly works on the American South to launching OSPS, UNC Press, for over 100 years, has continually found innovative ways to serve scholars and readers,” said Renee Grisham, Centennial Committee Chair. “OSPS is a great example of how the Press continues to evolve while staying true to its public mission. This endowment ensures that the Press’s second century will be as impactful as its first.”

Those interested in helping UNC Press meet the Kenan Trust Challenge may mail gifts to Kenan Trust Challenge/UNC Press/116 S Boundary St/Chapel Hill, NC 27514 or make gifts online: https://uncpress.org/support-the-press/. Questions about the challenge should be directed to Joanna Ruth Marsland, Director of Development, Joanna.Ruth.Marsland@uncpress.org.

About UNC Press
Founded in 1922 as the first university press in the South, the University of North Carolina Press advances the research, teaching, and public service missions of a great public university by publishing work that makes a lasting impact in both the academy and the wider world.

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Sonya Bonczek
Director of Publicity and Communications
The University of North Carolina Press
sonya.bonczek@uncpress.org

Sonya Bonczek
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
sonya.bonczek@uncpress.org

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