JON POTT TO RETIRE AT EERDMANS

Eerdmans editor in chief to retire

Written by Christine D. Johnson

Friday, 21 November 2014 06:04 PM EST

Jon Pott Jon Pott, vice president and editor in chief of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., has announced that he will retire June 30, 2015. Pott first joined the publishing house as an editor in 1968. He later served as executive editor for several years before being appointed to the position of editor in chief in 1982. During his long tenure, Pott has overseen the growth of the company’s yearly publishing output from approximately 70 titles a year to well over 100. He also played an active role in the publication of Eerdmans’ acclaimed periodical The Reformed Journal, serving as editor in chief from 1982 until its final issue in 1990. “When I came to the company, I intended to stay for one year,” Pott said. “Forty-six years later, that is a deadline I am deeply grateful to have missed.” Although Pott has overseen publication lists that range broadly across topics in biblical studies, theology, philosophy, history, spirituality and ministry, he has been especially instrumental in acquiring groundbreaking titles in ethics and bioethics, many of which were a result of his decades-long participation in the Society of Christian Ethics. Other special initiatives have been in the area of Dead Sea Scrolls studies, religion and literature, and American religious history. Pott also has spearheaded several significant publishing projects in conjunction with organizations such as The Pew Charitable Trusts, Lilly Endowment, Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University and Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. “If—as I have been—one is in publishing first of all out of a love for language and ideas, Eerdmans is a wonderful place to be,” Pott said. Eerdmans will begin the search for a new editor in chief in early 2015.