Celebrating 60 years of the MIT Press, and celebrating togetherness

Earlier this summer, MIT Press staff, friends, and authors were able to gather together for the first time in more than two years to celebrate six decades of illuminating publishing

In March 2020 as the world shut down for what was meant to be a two-week quarantine period, MIT Press staff packed up work essentials from our offices in Cambridge: laptops, notebooks, a potted plant or two, an armful of books.

Little did we know that this retreat to home office spaces would be more or less permanent.

More than two years later, the Press has undergone immense change. We have moved our offices to One Broadway in Cambridge, a few blocks down from our former home, and fully embraced a hybrid work model. Our beloved Bookstore has opened in a new location in Kendall Square. We have welcomed new colleagues, many of whom are working remotely from as far as Portland or the UK, and have said goodbye to others who have moved on to new ventures.

Even as we embraced change and uncertainty, many at the Press yearned to simply sit in the same room as their colleagues again—and this year finally offered us that opportunity as we mark six decades of the MIT Press.

In early June 2022, we held a marquee event to celebrate our 60th anniversary, with MIT luminaries, friends of the Press, and past and present Press staff and authors in attendance. Speakers remarked on the Press’s rich publishing history; attendees gazed out at skiffs sailing on the Charles River; Toscanini’s Ice Cream provided scoops in flavors reminiscent of the Press’s publishing program. The following day we held our first-ever all-staff retreat in Dedham, Massachusetts. It was a day full of community-building, problem-solving, and—most importantly—a day to celebrate what it means to be part of the Press and what it means to work as a team together. It was long overdue, and something we hope to continue for years to come.