Monday, August 25, 2014

Big changes afoot



I'm about to start work at O'Reilly Media, as an editor in the arena of data science. And while it may seem a bit odd that a background in ancient intellectual history has landed me in a job working on one of the sharpest--and most significant--leading edges in technology, I'll point out first that taking the long view always pays off in the end, and second, that one of my interviews consisted mostly of talking about Homer.

It has been an unending series of pleasures to work at the University of Chicago Press for the past dozen years, and the wisdom I've gathered from Doug Mitchell is only dwarfed by the wisdom he's demonstrated and I've been too saturated to absorb. I've been honored to work with the brilliant and creative people I've met over my tenure at the Press and I'm looking forward to keeping up the relationships (and discussions--and bike rides, and all sorts of other gatherings) we've begun. 

But occasionally an opportunity comes along that's too good to ignore, and this is certainly the case here. I will be shifting from one set of methods for understanding the world to a completely different set, and this is incredibly exciting. It's equally exciting to move from the leader in one area of publishing to the leader in another. 

On a practical level; I'll continue to work in Chicago, now from home, and my contact info remains the same.