Nicholas Lemann, Dean Emeritus of the Columbia Journalism School, has hired Camille McDuffie as publisher and Jimmy So as editor at Columbia Global Reports, a new publishing project, announced in February, dedicated to coverage and analysis of under-reported global issues.

Lemann will act as director of the initiative, based out of Columbia University, and expects the first titles to be published in fall 2015. It will release four to six books a year of about 25,000 words each.

McDuffie joins from literary public relations firm Goldberg McDuffie Communications, where she was president. She handled the public relations campaigns for authors such as Harold Bloom, Jodi Picoult, Barry Lopez, Maria Shriver, Alice Hoffman, Art Spiegelman, Ellen Galinsky, and Jack Welch. In addition, she represented The Library of America, The National Book Awards, and The Whiting Writers’ Awards.

So spent three years at the Daily Beast as culture and books editor. He is a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School, where he was awarded a Pulitzer traveling fellowship for his arts and culture writing.

“Camille brings years of experience working with a vast range of books and authors and has proven herself as someone who can guide them through the publishing process and help them achieve the kind of visibility necessary for success,” said Lemann. “Jimmy is a brilliant journalist with a keen eye for great writing and a grasp of the timely issues we will be addressing in our books. We are excited to work together to use robust reporting and scholarship to educate general audiences on the full scope and implications of globalization on society.”