After a five-month controversy, Clair Willcox will return to the University of Missouri Press as the editor-in-chief and an associate director.

Willcox will begin his duties effective immediately, which will include managing the editorial department of the press, serving as acquisitions editor and planning and directing the book publishing program to promote the overall goals of the press, according to an MU statement sent to The Maneater.

“One of my first priorities is to contact our authors and work to reengage them as we move forward and become a part of MU,” Willcox said in the statement.

In May, UM System President Tim Wolfe [announced the press would be phased out](http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/news/news_releases/052412_news) due to its growing deficit.

Willcox said at an MU Faculty Council meeting in late August that he had been laid off from his position at the press months before that. At the time, the new plan for the press was to redesign it to capitalize on technology and student interns.

In the same meeting, Willcox [told The Maneater](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2012/8/23/um-press-talk-continues-faculty-council/) that the new press the UM System was attempting to establish was a “phony” and “bogus” press that wouldn’t stay afloat.

Since the meeting, university officials have abandoned the plan to redesign the press and instead [announced in late August](http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2012/0828-um-president-mu-chancellor-call-for-nominations-for-university-of-missouri-press-advisory-committee/) that the press would remain open and responsibility would be transferred to MU.

“We’re very excited to have Clair returning to the press as we move forward with this transition,” Provost Brian Foster said in the statement. “He will provide continuity and help maintain the foundation that the press has built throughout its strong history. This is an important step in getting the press fully up to speed in the new campus environment.”

More than 40 authors sent a letter to Wolfe in early September, saying they would reconsider their requests to have their publication rights returned to them if Willcox was reinstatement as editor-in-chief. The authors represented 99 UM Press titles.

Florida State University professor Ned Stuckey-French, who helped draft the letter, said Willcox’s reinstatement was the last domino in this controversy. Stuckey-French was one of the authors who had requested publication rights from the press.

“Clair has a lot of hard work ahead to repair a press that has been battered and abused all summer long,” Stuckey-French said. “But we consider this a total victory. This was the last thing we were asking for.”

Stuckey-French said although he couldn’t speak for the rest of the authors, he would drop his request to have his publication rights returned to him.

“I’m ready to let Clair have my book back, and I’m ready to do what I can to help him,” Stuckey-French said. “This is a signal that the university is serious about rebuilding the press.”

Stuckey-French said this victory took the work of thousands. More than 5,300 people signed an online petition, and there are more than 2,800 likes on the [Save the University of Missouri Press Facebook page](http://www.facebook.com/SaveTheUniversityOfMissouriPress).

“This shows the strength of support that presses have in their communities,” said Bruce Miller, president of Miller Trade Book Marketing Inc., who partnered with Stuckey-French to lead the campaign for Willcox’s return. “This sends a message to all universities to value their presses.”