Partnerships in learning, research and professional practice

Our mission is to provide an expert publishing service to other experts - authors, editors, librarians, researchers, teachers and their students, societies and professionals - enabling them to do their jobs better. 

We aim continuously to improve the quality and effectiveness of our products and services.

Just as we support the advance of knowledge and learning, we are constantly developing our own professional skills too.

We strive to align our goals and values with those of our clients and customers.  In partnership with them we are making an important contribution to society.

Blackwell Publishing Professional (Ames, IA) was formerly Iowa State Press.  The Press was first established in 1924 as the Collegiate Press for the sole purpose of producing student and departmental periodicals for Iowa State College. Beginning in 1927, the Press ventured into book publishing with two titles. However, it wasn't until 1933 that the Press's mission was officially expanded to include book publishing under the editorial direction of the Collegiate Press's manuscript committee. The first books published by the Press in 1933-1934 included The Agricultural Emergency in Iowa; Calculation and Interpretation of Analysis of Variance and Covariance; Coccidia and Coccidiosis of Domestic, Game and Laboratory Animals and of Man; Collembole of Iowa; and Food for the Young Child. Interestingly, these titles reflect several of the fields in which Blackwell Publishing still publishes today.

In 1946, the Collegiate Press became the Iowa State College Press. In 1959, the name changed again to Iowa State University Press. During this time, the Press's book publishing program grew to play the dominant part in the company's mission and the Press began gradually to shed the responsibilities of producing student publications. As the Press's affiliation with Iowa State University became more distant, the Press moved off campus in 1972 to its current location. In 1999, Iowa State University Press merged with Blackwell Science, a leading independent scientific and technical publisher and the largest publisher for academic and professional societies in the world. By 2001, the Press's name changed again to Blackwell Publishing, A Blackwell Publishing company. Yet, in spite of the changes in name and affiliation, Blackwell Publishing remains a world class publisher of textbooks and references in diverse fields. Blackwell Publishing currently publishes in agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries, aviation, applied chemistry, dentistry, food science, journalism and mass communication, nutrition and dietetics, plant science and veterinary medicine.