Al Bertrand, director of Georgetown University Press since 2018, died on April 20 following a brief and sudden illness. He was 57
Bertrand joined Georgetown University Press after serving as associate publishing director at Princeton University Press, where he spent eight years. Prior to that, he served as UK editorial director for Social Science and Humanities books at Wiley-Blackwell in Oxford.
During his seven-year tenure at Georgetown, Bertrand expanded the press's publishing program. He diversified the portfolio to include global business titles and books designed to reach broader audiences beyond academia. Bertrand also established the press's first faculty editorial board.
Bertrand was known for his commitment to developing new publishing talent through an expanded internship program and through teaching. He created a course on "The Art of Publishing" at Georgetown and taught a course on global publishing in George Washington University's Masters in Publishing program.
"Al Bertrand shaped Princeton University Press in multitudes of ways with his intelligence, kindness and profound commitment to the mission of publishing books that better the world through the creation and exchange of knowledge," Christie Henry, director of PUP, told PW. "The ecosystem of publishing, especially university press publishing, evolved with his leadership, and the planet has lost a force of humanity and good far too early, at just the time when we need this more than ever. I will forever cherish collaborations with Al—at PUP and as university press directors—and our global PUP team is mourning. His contributions to this press in the form of books and friendships alike will endure in perpetuity. We hold his family in our collective hearts."
A Louisiana native raised in Metairie, Bertrand graduated from Jesuit High School in New Orleans before earning a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Chicago and a master's degree in classics from Princeton University. He met his wife Claire while studying at the University of St. Andrews.
Beyond publishing, Bertrand served as a mentor in the Georgetown Community Scholars program. He is survived by his mother Lucy Bertrand, sister Lucy Shrewsbury, wife Claire, and their two children, Eve and Jamie.
