ANN MERCHANT

  Director of Outreach and Marketing, National   Academies

A native of Massachusetts, Ann Merchant received her B.A. in Writing Seminars from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She has worked in publishing and communications for more than 23 years beginning her career working for the publishing division of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

She is currently the Director of Outreach and Marketing at the National Academies in Washington, D.C. where she has worked for the past 17 years. In this position, she divides her time between the National Academies Press where she runs the marketing department and the communications division where she directs a variety of outreach programs designed to enhance the public understanding of science. As part of a major communications plan launched by the National Academies, Merchant oversees the rapidly expanding Project Prism program, an initiative designed to connect entertainment professionals with science advisors. In addition, Merchant manages the National Academies Press’s subrights program which is designed to encourage the translation of the many reports, publications, and outreach materials produced by the National Academies into a variety of different languages so that they are made available around the world. Merchant is also an adjunct professor at the College of Professional Studies at the George Washington University where she teaches marketing in the masters-level publishing program.