In 2017, after the retirement of Kathleen Keane, who is credited with modernizing JHU Press for the digital age, the university appointed new director Barbara Pope.

It published its first book, Sidney Lanier: A Memorial Tribute, in 1881 to honor the poet who was one of the university's first writers in residence.

[4] After various moves on and off the university's Homewood campus, the Press acquired a permanent home in Baltimore's Charles Village neighborhood in 1993, when it relocated to a renovated former church.

Built in 1897, the granite and brick structure was the original church of the Saints Philip and James Roman Catholic parish and now houses the offices of the press on five floors.

In its 125 years of scholarly publishing, the Press has had only eight directors: Nicholas Murray, 1878–1908; Christian W. Dittus, 1908–1948; Harold E. Ingle, 1948–1974; Jack G. Goellner, 1974–1996; Willis G. Regier, 1996–1998; James D. Jordan, 1998–2003; Kathleen Keane, 2003–2017; and Barbara Pope, 2017–present.