WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors today announced the appointment of Megan J. Brennan, the current chief operating officer of the Postal Service, as the 74th Postmaster General and CEO.    

Speaking at a public meeting of the Board this morning, Mickey D. Barnett, chairman of the Postal Service Board of Governors, praised Brennan – who will become the first woman to be Postmaster General – as the ideal choice to replace the current Postmaster General, Patrick R. Donahoe, who will be retiring in early 2015.

“Megan has demonstrated outstanding vision, leadership and executive ability in her role as chief operating officer, and has been extraordinarily successful in managing the operations of the Postal Service,” said Barnett.” She is highly regarded throughout the Postal Service and among the broader community of our major customers and business partners – and rightly so.”

As chief operating officer, Brennan is responsible for the day-to-day activities of 491,000 career employees working in more than 31,000 facilities supported by a fleet of more than 200,000 vehicles. She is responsible for all Postal Service operations, including mail processing, transportation, delivery and retail operations.

“As the head of operations, Megan has led important initiatives to provide Sunday delivery services, improved tracking, and greater predictability and reliability,” said Barnett. “She has also been highly successful in rationalizing our mail processing, delivery and retail operations.”

Barnett also commended Brennan’s role in maintaining high delivery performances in the face of a significant and continued reduction in workforce and resources.  “Megan has managed some very large, complex organizational changes and the Postal Service never missed a beat in terms of meeting customer expectations,” said Barnett. “She instills great confidence in the ability of the organization to succeed and achieve its business goals.”

“I am deeply honored and humbled to take on this role at such an exciting time for the organization,” said Brennan. “The Postal Service plays a vital role in America’s society and economy and I’m looking forward to strengthening that role and meeting the demands of a rapidly evolving marketplace in the years ahead.”

Megan J. Brennan was named Chief Operating Officer and executive vice president in December 2010. Reporting directly to the Postmaster General, Brennan has led the continuous improvement of the postal network operation as well as the allocations of people and resources.

Previously she was vice president of Eastern Area Operations. As the senior postal official she oversaw an area that encompassed Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Delaware, Kentucky, Central and South Jersey, Western New York and parts of Virginia and Indiana.  A 28-year veteran of the Postal Service, Brennan served as vice president of Northeast Area Operations from May 2005 until being named vice president of Eastern Area Operations.

Brennan joined the Postal Service in 1986 as a letter carrier in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and began her management career as a delivery and collection supervisor.  Brennan is a graduate of Immaculata College in Pennsylvania. She is a Sloan Fellow and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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