CHICAGO – Gloria Tyson, District Manager/Postmaster of Chicago, has announced her retirement from the U.S. Postal Service, effective March 3, 2011, after a 32-year career.

Tyson has served in Chicago since 2006, and helped drive significant and sustained improvement in local mail service performance, including reducing costs and rebuilding the trust and confidence of Chicago postal customers.

“Managing in a metropolitan area like Chicago can be very challenging and at times overwhelming,” said Great Lakes Area vice president Jo Ann Feindt, “but Gloria’s leadership, perseverance and straightforward management style has enabled the district to stride towards the achievement of organizational goals.  I personally am forever grateful to Gloria for joining the Great Lakes team and sharing her vision for success and the importance of developing employees throughout the organization.”

“Over the course of these four-plus years, we have made significant improvements in our performance, and we have received a ‘stamp of approval’ from our customers,” said Tyson.  “I am proud to have worked with such a passionate and dedicated team of postal professionals, and to have served the businesses and residents of this great city.”

Tyson’s Postal Service career is marked with significant leadership accomplishments.  After beginning her career as a letter carrier in New York City, she entered the Postal Service’s management training program and received promotions of increasing responsibility.  She was promoted to District Manager of the Alabama District in 1999, and District Manager of the Detroit District in 2005.

Nancy Rettinhouse, District Manager of the Greater Michigan District, will succeed Tyson as acting District Manager/Postmaster of Chicago, effective February 26, 2011.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.