FRANK URBANOWSKI

Urbanowski, Frank The MIT Press mourns the loss of Frank Urbanowski who served as director of the Press for an unprecedented 27 years, building it into one of the largest and most successful scholarly publishers in the world. He passed away on September 19th in Essex Junction, Vermont. He was 79. Mr. Urbanowski is acknowledged as a pioneer in the strategy of focused disciplinary specialization now widely adopted by university presses. Under Mr. Urbanowski's guidance, the MIT Press grew from $3 million to $22 million in annual revenues, and from publishing an annual list of 135 books and four journals to 220 books and over 30 journals. Mr. Urbanowski was an engineering graduate of Virginia Polytechnical Institute and had many diverse interests from cabinet making to classical music. He was an opera fan, an avid rower and member of the Cambridge Boat Club and traveled widely. At his retirement, he moved to Vermont where he enjoyed the country life with his family and his many advisory positions for the University of California Press, Transaction Publishers, SUNY Press and the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Council. He is survived by his wife, Julia Blocksma; his daughters, Alexandra and Tasha Urbanowski, and their husbands; two granddaughters; two step children, and many cousins. A private ceremony will be held in Vermont, with a memorial celebration event to be held in Cambridge in the spring.