Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is pleased to announce the appointment of Foong Ling Kong as its new Publisher.

Ms Kong has two decades of experience as a publisher both of academic and trade books, including periods at Penguin, Hardie Grant and Allen & Unwin. The appointment also represents her return to MUP, where she was Executive Publisher for five years (2006–10), responsible for commissioning and bringing to publication a sizeable number of excellent books.

Ms Kong holds a BA (Hons) in English and Economics from the University of Melbourne. She has been Chair of the Feminist Writers Festival and a board member for the Stella Prize and Overland. She is currently Editor of Debates at the Parliament of Victoria, where she publishes the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly and manages a large team of Hansard reporters.

The Chair of MUP, Professor Warren Bebbington, said Ms Kong had long understood the mission of a university publisher, and would be welcomed back by our authors, staff and the academic community. “Foong Ling has demonstrated her expertise and knowledge of publishing over an extended period, and the Board believes she has the capacity to build on the expanding range of subjects and international reach MUP has achieved over the past four years,” he said.

Ms Kong says of her return to MUP:

It is a deep honour and privilege to helm the country’s oldest university publishing house into its second century. Through its history, MUP has facilitated robust engagement with ideas and intellectual work; books by MUP authors have led and defined the national conversation. I look forward to commissioning into that tradition. In this complicated age we live in, expertise has never mattered more.

Ms Kong’s appointment comes after the MUP Board split the role of CEO and Publisher after Dr Nathan Hollier’s departure earlier this year. She has been appointed for a five-year term and starts on 15 January.

Enquiries: Deborah Jenkins, CEO - 0458 011 491