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Nigel Portwood appointed as new Chief Executive of Oxford University Press

6 March 2009 

Oxford University has appointed Nigel Portwood as the new Chief Executive of Oxford University Press (OUP). His role will commence in the summer of 2009 upon the retirement of OUP’s current Chief Executive, Dr Henry Reece.

The appointment of Mr Portwood was made by the Delegates of Oxford University Press - the committee of Oxford academics appointed by the University to oversee the affairs of the Press. The Chief Executive of OUP is also known as the Secretary to the Delegates.

Oxford University’s Vice Chancellor Dr John Hood commented: “The Press is a core department of the University that extends the educational reach and impact that it has around the world. Over the last decade Dr Reece has overseen a period of tremendous growth for the Press, the results of which the whole University can be proud. Finding a strong successor to take the Press’s work forward has been very important for the University, and I am confident that Nigel Portwood has the experience, talent, and vision to undertake this leadership role.”

Mr Portwood has more than a decade’s senior management experience in the global publishing industry. He is currently Executive Vice President (EVP), Global Operations for the Penguin Group, based in New York.  He has direct responsibility for several Penguin businesses including Dorling Kindersley and Penguin South Africa, as well as global responsibility for operational functions across Penguin, with an emphasis on modernisation and global co-ordination. Recently Mr Portwood has also driven digital business development in Penguin and is the leader of a Pearson-wide group responsible for developing the company’s digital strategy.

Mr Portwood said of his appointment: “I am extremely excited to be joining OUP. It is a real privilege to take up this appointment in an organisation with a world-renowned reputation for excellence and achievement in academic and educational publishing. Under Henry Reece’s leadership the business has built strong global positions in many educational markets and I look forward to working with the team to build on that success, addressing the many exciting opportunities that are before us.” 

Notes to Editors

  • Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. OUP is the world's largest and most international university press. It currently publishes more than 6,000 new publications a year, has offices in around fifty countries, and employs some 5,000 people worldwide. It has become familiar to millions through a diverse publishing programme that includes scholarly works in all academic disciplines, bibles, music, school and college textbooks, children's books, materials for teaching English as a foreign language, business books, dictionaries and reference books, and academic journals.

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