Elizabeth Geiser (left), Joyce Meskis (right)

On April 18, it was announced that Tattered Cover owner Joyce Meskis was named director of the University of Denver Publishing Institute [4], beginning January 2008. Meskis will continue to own and manage the Tattered Cover Book Store. She will succeed Elizabeth Geiser, who is retiring after more than 30 years as the founding director of the program. "In my youth, I set a course to become a teacher but happily got sidetracked into the book industry," Meskis said, in a statement. "Now I can blend these two passions."

Founded in 1976, the Publishing Institute is an intensive four-week, graduate-level course devoted to all aspects of book publishing. The Institute offers workshops and teaching sessions on editing, marketing, and production conducted by experts from all areas of publishing. More than 2,700 students have attended the Institute, with a high percentage now working in publishing houses throughout the United States and the world.

Meskis has been the owner of the Tattered Cover Book Store since 1974, and she has served on the board of directors and as president of ABA. She is a past member of the faculty of the ABA's Bookseller School Program and has taught seminars on book industry issues in Singapore, Europe, and New Zealand. In 2000, she received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement award from ABA. She has been a regular faculty member of the Publishing Institute.

In addition to her work with the Institute, Geiser has more than 40 years experience in New York book publishing. Most recently she has been senior vice president of Gale Research Inc., for whom she serves as consultant. She has held positions as promotion director of the Macmillan Co. and senior vice president and publisher of the R.R. Bowker Co. She has served as a member of the board of directors for the Association of American Publishers, and is the editor of The Business of Book Publishing, a basic text on publishing. She was inducted into the Publishing Hall of Fame for her role as an industry educator. In 2005, she received the Rittenhouse Award from the Publishers Association of the West for her contribution to publishing in the West. Under contract with the United States Information Agency she has led seminars in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, and Lithuania. Geiser will continue to provide career guidance to future Publishing Institute classes.