CHOICE Magazine, the premier source for reviews of academic books, electronic media and Internet resources in higher education, has announced the appointment of Mark Cummings as editor and publisher. CHOICE, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), is headquartered in Middletown, Conn.
Cummings will serve as CHOICE editor and publisher designate beginning June 17, 2013 and assume the position full time effective July 7, 2013, upon the retirement of Irving E. Rockwood, who served CHOICE in this position for 17 years.
Cummings has worked in academic and educational publishing for almost 30 years, beginning his career in the reference and professional books division at Macmillan and continuing at Scribner's and Oxford University Press. In the early 1990s, he joined Grolier Publishing Company as editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia Americana and went on to become vice president and publisher of Grolier's reference division.
Over the course of his 10 years in that position, Cummings built an online business that reached millions of students in the United States and overseas. Since 2000 he has concentrated on educational technology, first at Scholastic and then at Weekly Reader, where, as vice president for business development, focusing on creating new reference and literacy products for the school and library market.
The CHOICE editor and publisher provides ongoing strategic direction for the editorial, marketing, advertising and production of a suite of print and digital products. The position directs the development and implementation of a long-term business strategy to maintain CHOICE's competitive position in the higher education marketplace and ensure ongoing fiscal sustainability.
