Patrick Donahoe, the Postmaster General and CEO of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), will end his 39-year career when he retires Feb. 1, 2015. He will be replaced by Megan Brennan, current USPS chief operating officer, and the first woman to hold the office.
USPS Board of Governors announced Donahoe’s retirement. At a public meeting of the board, Chairman Mickey Barnett called Donahoe a visionary leader who worked tirelessly to move the organization forward during one of its most difficult periods.
“Pat was the calm in the financial storm. He ignored the naysayers and went forward with his team and built a comprehensive plan for the future of the organization, made tough decisions, and executed against those decisions,” said Barnett. “That’s a testament to the great team he built and his own personal leadership.”
Donahoe became postmaster general during a severe financial crisis, the result of an inflexible business model that limited the organization’s ability to respond to declining First-Class Mail volumes. He created an integrated financial plan and took aggressive measures to control costs, including the rationalization of mail processing, delivery and post office operations. These changes have lowered the cost base of the Postal Service significantly.
Commenting on the fact that the Postal Service has roughly 220,000 fewer employees today than it did in 2004, Barnett noted that “no other organization has restructured itself so dramatically and on such a large scale, and continued functioning at such a high level. And it did so without relying upon employee layoffs.”
Donahoe served as a constant cheerleader for mail as a marketing channel and pushed for more integration between mail and digital communications in the mailing industry. Under his leadership, the Postal Service launched several new mailing products and enhancements including Every Door Direct Mail, which has generated more than $1 billion in new revenue. Donahoe also guided the organization’s shipping and package strategies to capitalize on the rapid increase of e-commerce. In the last few years, the Postal Service has seen double-digit growth each year in its package business.
Brennan joined the USPS as a letter carrier in Lancaster, Pa., in 1986. She also served a stint as delivery and collection supervisor. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“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.”
