AAAS CEO Alan I. Leshner today announced the appointment of Kent Anderson, a past president of the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP), to serve as Publisher of the Science family of journals.
Anderson, who in 2011 received the SSP's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, will assume the role of Science Publisher as of 3 November.
Currently, he is the CEO and Publisher of STRIATUS/The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery in Needham, Massachusetts, where he oversees a staff of directors in advertising, marketing, business development, administration, product development, and product line management.
Kent Anderson | photo courtesy of Kent Anderson
"AAAS and Science have held to high standards while pursuing the vanguard of scientific communication worldwide," Anderson said regarding his appointment. "I am extremely proud to join such a talented, thoughtful, and ambitious organization. I look forward to helping to move the Science family of journals further into the vanguard of scientific communication, with an immediate goal of supporting the launch of the association's new, open-access, online-only journal, Science Advances."
Anderson served as President of the Society for Scholarly Publishing from 2013 until 2014, and he has been the recipient of numerous awards for his work in the field. "We're delighted to welcome such a capable new Publisher to AAAS," Leshner said of the appointment. "He has extensive print and online publishing experience, and he has been a strategic leader for international business and product development, marketing, market research, advertising sales, customer service, strategic planning, and strategic deployment of new products." Anderson further has "a demonstrated track record of working collaboratively with editorial groups to form and execute publishing strategies," Leshner added.
Prior to his current position, Anderson worked for The New England Journal of Medicine for almost ten years as Publishing Director, and then as Executive Director of International Business and Product Development. Earlier, his professional roles included service as the Managing Editor of Medical Journals, and then Director of the Division of Medical Journals and Professional Periodicals with the American Academy of Pediatrics. He also served as the Senior Managing Editor of the Clinical and Emergency Medicine Groups with American Health Consultants in Atlanta, Georgia. He holds B.A. and M.B.A. degrees.
Among Anderson's initial challenges as Science Publisher will be the launch of the nonprofit association's first open-access title, Science Advances — a strategy for increasing the volume of peer-reviewed research published by AAAS. As a member of the AAAS leadership team, Anderson also will play a key role in the association's Transformation Initiative, a far-reaching effort to enhance engagement with members and to ensure that the Science journals continue to provide leadership in science communication.
"Kent succeeds Beth Rosner, who has done a superb job as Publisher for over a decade," Leshner said. "We are extremely grateful for all she has done for AAAS and Science. Her accomplishments include greatly expanding Science's reach both in Europe and in Asia, as well as launching two new online journals, Science Signaling and Science Translational Medicine." Rosner has served AAAS in various capacities for 24 years.