The Board of Governors

photo of the board of governors

Chairman Louis J. Giuliano, James H. Bilbray, Ellen C. Williams, Dennis J. Toner, Carolyn Lewis Gallagher, James C. Miller III, Alan C. Kessler, Mickey D. Barnett, Vice Chairman Thurgood Marshall, Jr.

As the governing body of the Postal Service, the 11-member Board of Governors has responsibilities comparable to a board of directors of a publicly held corporation. The Board is comprised of nine Governors appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate. No more than five Governors can be members of the same political party.

The other two members of the Board are the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General. The Governors appoint the Postmaster General, who serves at their pleasure without a specific term of office. The Governors, together with the Postmaster General, appoint the Deputy Postmaster General.

Louis J. Giuliano

Appointed November 2004. Term expires December 2014. Chairman since January 2010. Vice Chairman, February 2009 to January 2010. Chairman, Operations Subcommittee. Member, Compensation and Management Resources Committee. Former Chairman of Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer of ITT Corp. Director of the John Maneely Company and Senior Advisor at the Carlyle Group.

Thurgood Marshall, Jr.

Appointed December 2006. Term expires December 2011. Vice Chairman since January 2010. Chairman, Government Relations and Regulatory Committee. Member, Audit and Finance Committee. Partner at Bingham McCutchen and principal with Bingham Consulting Group. Served President Clinton as former Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary. Former Director of Legislative Affairs and Deputy Counsel for Vice President Gore. Director, Corrections Corporation of America.

Mickey D. Barnett

Appointed August 2006. Term expires December 2013. Member, Governance and Strategic Planning Committee. Member, Audit and Finance Committee. Attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Former member, New Mexico State Senate. Former member, Appellate Nominating Commission for the New Mexico Supreme Court of Appeals. Former Legislative Assistant to Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico.

James H. Bilbray

Appointed August 2006. Term expires December 2015. Member, Governance and Strategic Planning Committee. Member, Government Relations and Regulatory Committee. Attorney in Las Vegas, Nevada. Former member, U.S. House of Representatives from Nevada. Former member, Nevada State Senate. Former Deputy District Attorney in Clark County, Nevada.

Carolyn Lewis Gallagher

Appointed November 2004. Term expired December 2009; now serving hold-over term expiring December 2010. Member, Compensation and Management Resources Committee. Past Chairman, February 2009 to January 2010. Former President and CEO of Texwood Furniture, Inc. Former Trustee and Chairman, Texas Employees’ Retirement System. Appointed by President Bush in 2003 to serve on the President’s Commission on USPS.

Alan C. Kessler

Appointed November 2000. Serving second term, expiring December 2015. Past Chairman, January 2008 to January 2009. Vice Chairman, January 2005 to January 2008. Chairman, Governance and Strategic Planning Committee. Partner at Duane Morris, LLP. Former Vice Chair of the Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management. Former member of the Electoral College, Pennsylvania. Serves on Boards of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. Former commissioner for Lower Merion Township, PA. Member, Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Member, Executive Committee of Philadelphia 2000. Chairman, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Continuing Legal Education Board.

James C. Miller III

Appointed April 2003. Term expires December 2010. Past Chairman, January 2005 through January 2008. Chairman, Audit and Finance Committee, and member, Governance and Strategic Planning Committee. Senior Advisor, Husch Blackwell Sanders, LLP. Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Member of Boards of Washington Mutual Investors Fund, America Fund Tax-Exempt Series I, the JP Morgan Value Opportunities Fund and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. Former Director, U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 1985 to 1988. Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Trade Commission, 1981 to 1985.

Dennis J. Toner

Appointed September 2010. Term expires December 2012. Member of the Compensation and Management Resources Committee. Founder and principal since 2006 of Horizon Advisors. Deputy Chief of Staff, to then-Senator and now-Vice President Joseph Biden, Jr. 1995 to 2005.

Ellen C. Williams

Appointed August 2006. Term expires December 2014. Chairman, Compensation and Management Resources Committee, and member, Government Relations and Regulatory Committee. Principal, government affairs and lobbying firm. Former Vice Chairman, Kentucky Public Services Commission. Former Commissioner, Governor’s Office for Local Development in Kentucky. Former Chairman, Kentucky Republican Party. Staff assistant to former U.S. Representative Larry Hopkins.

John E. Potter

Appointed 72nd Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service in June 2001. Potter has served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President; Senior Vice President, Operations; Senior Vice President, Labor Relations; and Manager, Capital Metro Operations.

Patrick R. Donahoe

Appointed 19th Deputy Postmaster General in April 2005. Donahoe is Chief Operating Officer and has served as Senior Vice President, Operations; Senior Vice President, Human Resources; and Vice President, Allegheny Area Operations.