London, Wednesday 21 February 2024. The London Book Fair (LBF) has today announced that YoungSuk (YS) Chi, Chairman of Elsevier and Chairman of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), is the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024.
YoungSuk (YS) Chi
An international businessman and a global thought leader in the publishing, education, and information solutions industries, YS Chi is a unanimously well-respected figure in the book world. As Chairman of Elsevier, he works directly with key stakeholders in government, academia, and industry to support over 30 million scientists, students and health information professionals. In his role as Director of Corporate Affairs for RELX, Elsevier’s parent company, he is responsible for government affairs, corporate communications, and corporate responsibility across all four of the group’s market segments.
Based in London and Washington D.C., Chi travels extensively to engage with scientific research communities, deliver thought leadership on key trends and advise stakeholders, boards, and groups across industries. He is currently Chairman of the Association of American Publishers and has served as President of the International Publishers Association. He is also actively involved in numerous educational, artistic, and charitable organizations, including Princeton University, the Korea-US Science Center KUSCO, and the Ban Ki-Moon Foundation.
YoungSuk (YS) Chi commented: “I am humbled, both by those who nominated me and by the panel that selected me for this tremendous honor. Having entered the book industry unknowingly nearly thirty years ago, I have been incredibly fortunate to learn so much from my peers who have embraced both tradition and innovation. It has truly been a privilege to be enriched by their purpose, dedication, and professional expertise. Being a part of this industry’s development has been a remarkable experience, and I’m certain that publishing will continue to thrive with both talent and passion.”
Gareth Rapley, Director of The London Book Fair, said: “We are delighted to be recognising the impressive career of YS with the Lifetime Achievement Award. From his remarkable work ethic to his impressive stamina across so many fields, in particular his contributions to copyright, his focus on sustainability and his dedication to the industry, YS is an example of one of the most inspiring individuals working in publishing right now. We are lucky to have him as a speaker on the Main Stage on Day 1, and we are looking forward to paying him a worthy tribute at the Fair, celebrating this incredibly well-deserved honour.”
David Roche, Non-Executive Chair of The London Book Fair Advisory Board and Chair of the Judging Panel for the Lifetime Achievement Award, said: “Chairing the independent judging panel for the LBF Lifetime Achievement Award is always a privilege and a pleasure. This year’s high-quality shortlist was filled with worthy candidates but one submission stood out above the others. YS Chi is the embodiment of everything that this award looks to recognise. He is a true internationalist, creating networks and connecting people across continents. He has both a determination to influence leading global figures and a passion to mentor those at the beginning of their careers, to create a better future. He sits on many disparate boards and this is testament to the diversity of his talent and interests and how highly he is valued. He has enjoyed much corporate success and his efforts are always to influence the industry that we work in to be better for its authors, employees, and beneficiaries in a sustainable way. The LBF Lifetime Achievement award 2024 could not have a more laudable winner.”
Kumsal Bayazit, CEO of Elsevier, said: “Everyone at Elsevier is immensely proud that our Chairman, YS Chi, has been honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by the London Book Fair. This recognition not only celebrates his remarkable contributions to the publishing industry but also underscores his unwavering dedication to advancing knowledge and fostering innovation. This award is a testament to his exceptional career and enduring legacy, and we extend our heartfelt congratulations on this well-deserved honour.”
Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, said: “I first met YS about 12 years ago, during my tenure as Director of the U.S. Copyright Office. From my experience working with YS all those years ago, I can say that he was an important advocate and spokesperson for the international publishing community then, and that he has never slowed down. YS personifies the qualities that propel the modern publishing industry: a commitment to research, learning, and progress; enthusiastic investment in technology; respect for both the private and public sectors; collaboration across disciplines and cultures; and a work ethic that incorporates indefatigable service to colleagues and industry boards, including the AAP where he is currently serving his second term as Chair. My heart-felt congratulations to YS on this incredibly well-deserved accolade.”
Brian Murray, CEO of HarperCollins, said: “The global publishing industry in 2024 is as successful today and as well-positioned for the next 25 years as any other industry in no small part due to YS Chi’s professional and personal leadership, mentorship and chairmanships over three decades in nearly all publishing sectors, countries and continents. Over the last three decades, I’ve been so fortunate to be a fellow traveller who witnessed YS work his intellect, curiosity and acumen for the betterment of our shared interests in his role at both the AAP and the IPA as global and technological forces swept across the industry. I know I am not alone in recognizing his unique and outsized impact on the industry and all of us who have been able to work with him over his three decades. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this recognition from the London Book Fair – Congratulations and Thank you, YS!”
John Ingram, Chairman of Ingram Content Group, said: “Few people know YoungSuk (YS) Chi better than I do. We met in our sophomore year at Princeton University back in the Fall of 1980. We have been best friends and business colleagues for over 40 years. YS is truly a citizen of the world – an international businessman and global thought leader in publishing. He is a man of amazing energy and stamina. Yet YS is so much more. He has a huge heart and capacity to serve, not just the for-profit world (including serving on the Ingram Industries Board of Directors, parent company of Ingram Book) but also the not-for-profit world. The publishing world has indeed been fortunate to have someone of YS’s talents, passion, and energy play so many important roles within the industry over the past almost 30 years. He is so deserving to be recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Christie Henry, Director of Princeton University Press, said: “For more than three decades in scholarly publishing, I have hoped for a way to visually map the power and impact of mentoring in our community. In doing so, I have every confidence that at the epicentre of the publishing ecosystem would be YS Chi. His achievements in the business of publishing are renowned, but it is his profound commitment to inspiring and mentoring publishers that has led to lifetimes of achievements for so many, myself included. The expanse of his impact and engagement I believe to be unparalleled in publishing, just as his versatility as a publishing leader, most demonstrable in his ability to scale. YS as a global ambassador for our freedoms to publish has kept publishing doors, and houses, open and vibrant. But while he operates at this scale routinely, he also will attend a Board meeting with every attention and preparedness, and ensure a generative and energizing experience for all. His focus combined with his indefatigable passion for our purpose is an inspiration.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award committee, composed of the independent LBF Advisory Board, selected YS Chi from a shortlist of leading international figures in the book industry. The Award recognises an individual who has made a truly significant mark in the sphere of the global book world. It is open to publishers, agents, editors, scouts, booksellers and anyone else involved in the international book industry from any country in the world.
YS Chi will be speaking on the Main Stage of The London Book Fair on Tuesday 12 March at 11.15 – 12.00, on the panel called ‘Exploring the Ever-Evolving World of Publishing: Global Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities’, alongside Karine Gonçalves Pansa, President of the International Publishers Association (IPA); Ricardo Franco Levi, President of The Federation of European Publishers (FEP); Lawrence Njagi, President of the African Publishers Network (APNET), and Edward Nawotka, Senior International Bookselling Editor at Publishers Weekly. More info here. YS Chi will be presented with his award at a private reception during The London Book Fair.
PREVIOUS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS:
2023 – Klaus Flugge, Andersen Press, Germany
2022 – Hiroshi Hayakawa, Hayakawa Publishing, Japan
2021 – Margaret Busby, Allison & Busby, UK
2020 – Nigel Newton, Bloomsbury Publishing, UK
2019 – Dorotea Bromberg, Brombergs Bokförlag, Sweden
2018 – Sara Miller McCune, Sage Publishing, US
2017 – Luiz Schwarcz, Companhia das Letras, Brazil
2016 – Gail, Baroness Rebuck DBE, Penguin Random House, UK
2015 – Peter Usborne, Usborne, UK
2014 – Deborah Rogers, Rogers, Coleridge & White, UK
2013 – Michael Krüger, Hanser Verlag, Germany
2012 – Jorge Herralde, Editions Anagrama, Spain
2011 – Sonny Mehta, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., US
2010 – Antoine Gallimard, Éditions Gallimard, France
2009 – Drenka Willen, Harcourt, USA
2008 – Peter Mayer, Overlook Press and Duckworth, UK & USA
2007 – Lord Weidenfeld, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, UK
2006 – Christopher MacLehose, MacLehose Press, UK
2005 – Lynette Owen, Pearson Education, UK
2004 – John Lyons, Little, Brown, UK & USA
The London Book Fair (LBF) is the world’s largest spring book trade and publishing event, and will return to its home at Olympia London from 12 – 14 March 2024. Visitor registration is now open, at this link.
To apply for a press pass for The London Book Fair, please visit: www.londonbookfair.co.uk/pressreg