The UBC Press was established in March 1971 as the incorporated successor to the Publications Centre, which had been the publishing department of the University since 1961. With the change of name, the Press expanded its publishing program and broadened its services to the regional, Canadian, and international scholarly communities; frequently providing book production and distribution services to a number of national and international university presses, cultural institutions, government agencies, and international publishing houses. The Press has editorial, promotion and distribution facilities for the books it publishes; while the design and printing, although controlled by the Press, is done by commercial firms. All books published by the UBC Press are subjected to peer review and must be approved by a committee of faculty members appointed by the University President. The head office of the UBC Press is located in the Old Auditorium Building on the University campus, while a satellite office is situated in Toronto, Ontario. The Press continues to concentrate the major portion of its book publishing activities in four general areas of Asia and the Pacific, International Law and Canadian subjects with considerable emphasis on British Columbia. Within these areas a wide range of academic disciplines, from the humanities through the sciences, is included. The Press also publishes works of special significance outside these areas when warranted. In addition to books and monographs, a number of journals and a yearbook are also published in association with the Press. Most notably are the journals Canadian Literature, B.C. Studies, and Pacific Affairs, as together they formed the primary impetus for the development of a Publications Centre, turned Press, within the University of British Columbia. These journals continue to retain their "associative" relationship with the UBC Press; such a distinction needing identification as their publication is financed separately from the Presss publication of its own books and monographs. More or less concurrently, the Canadian Yearbook of International Law, commenced publication under the auspices of the Canadian Branch of the International Law Association, also in association with the UBC Press. Aside from these editorial considerations, the UBC Press has also carried on an active book-publishing program, which encourages faculty members who wish advice on the publishing process to consult the Press. At the time of its inception in the early 1960s, the Executive Director of the UBC Press reported to the Deputy President of the University, as well as to a Faculty Board of 23 members to whom the Director was to submit an Annual Report. While the Board authorized all major policy decisions of the Press, it also facilitated the establishment of a supportive sub-committee whose mandate was to handle routine publishing decisions and any other, less significant, Press affairs. As of 1998, the UBC Press was granted the official designation of a University Department; as such, both the Press, and its Executive Director, report directly to the Vice-President, Research. As well, a Publications Committee, as the descendent of the founding "supportive sub-committee", is presently the collective entity responsible for all publishing decisions. The administration of the Publications Centre turned UBC Press, was initially overseen by Mr. James Banham, Information Officer at the University, who was Acting Executive Director of the Centre during the 1960s. In 1969 Mr. Anthony N. Blicq was appointed to the position of Executive Director of the UBC Press. Mr. Blicq acted in this capacity until 1983 when Basil Stuart Stubbs was directed to fill the resulting vacancy in an interim capacity. In 1984, Mr. Stuart Stubbs was relieved by James J. Anderson who served in this executive capacity until 1990. For the following year, Jean Wilson was appointed to the position of Acting Director until 1991 when R. Peter Milroy received the full executive appointment.
From the description of UBC Press fonds. 1955-2002. (University of British Columbia Library). WorldCat record id: 606456842
