FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Media Contact: Rita Peer (202) 268-2126
September 26, 2003 USPS web site: www.usps.com
Release Number: 03-050

POSTMASTER GENERAL JOHN E. POTTER TO RECEIVE
THE J. EDWARD DAY AWARD
Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) Will Confer Highest Honor

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In recognition of “outstanding service rendered on
behalf of the postal community and the nation,” Postmaster General John E. Potter
will receive the J. Edward Day Award from the Association for Postal Commerce
(PostCom) Oct. 14 at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum.
The J. Edward Day Award – named after the former Postmaster General
and Cabinet officer – is conferred only when PostCom determines, after great
deliberation, that an individual in the postal community has earned this significant
recognition.

PostCom President Gene Del Polito, commenting on the selection of Potter for the award, said,
“During some of the most demanding times in the history of the United States and the United States Postal
Service, Postmaster General Potter has performed uncommonly well. His commitment and dedication to the
men and women of the Postal Service, as well as to the universal service every American has come to rely
upon and trust, is unsurpassed. It gives us great pleasure to honor him with this – the highest award the
Association for Postal Commerce may bestow on an individual.”

Potter joins a very select group of individuals honored by PostCom in the past, including the late
Postmaster General William F. Bolger; former Postmaster General Marvin Runyon; former Postal Rate
Commission Chairman Janet Steiger; Senator Ted Stevens, who chaired the Senate Government Affairs
Committee with jurisdiction over the Postal Service; and Congressman John McHugh, who chaired the
House Postal Subcommittee.

Potter said, “This award is exceptional because it represents the partnership among the Association
for Postal Commerce, the United States Postal Service and the entire mailing community. I am delighted to
be chosen for this honor, and pleased to join the ranks of the remarkable people who have received the
award before me.”

Potter became the 72nd Postmaster General of the United States on June 1, 2001. The 24-year
agency veteran began his career as a clerk in Westchester, N.Y., and is only the sixth career employee to
guide the world’s largest postal system. During Potter’s tenure, the Postal Service has achieved record
levels of service performance and customer satisfaction, while reducing costs and serving a delivery base
that has grown by more than 3.6 million new homes and businesses.

Potter successfully led the Postal Service through one of the most challenging periods in its history,
beginning with the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and, one month later, the use of the mail for bioterrorism.
In April 2002, Potter unveiled the Postal Service’s comprehensive Transformation Plan, a blueprint
for its future in the face of a changing communications marketplace. The Plan outlines steps the Postal
Service is taking to improve efficiency, reduce costs and protect service. It also contains the Postal
Service’s recommendations to provide the management and market flexibility needed to preserve the
fundamental right of all Americans to affordable, universal mail service.

Previously, Potter was Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, responsible for
nationwide delivery, network, transportation, facilities, engineering operations and 10 area offices. He was
also Senior Vice President of Operations, responsible for operations planning and processing, network
operations management, retail operations, quality, engineering, delivery and facilities.
In 1998, as Senior Vice President, Labor Relations, Potter’s leadership resulted in the Postal
Service’s first negotiated agreements since 1987 with the American Postal
Workers Union, AFL-CIO, and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, AFL-CIO. He received the Board of
Governors’ award for leading the parties to agreement.

In other assignments, he was instrumental in rate reclassification; nationwide integration of letter
mail automation; and leadership of the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia postal area, resulting in
sustained, significant service improvements.

Married with two children, Potter holds a master’s degree in management from the Sloan Fellows
Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Fordham
University, Bronx, N.Y.

Also receiving awards from PostCom on Oct. 14 are Professor Murray Comarow (The Lifetime
Achievement Award) and Vincent Giuliano, senior vice president, ADVO [The Lee Epstein Award (named
after the founding director of PostCom)].

Since 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. An
independent federal agency, the Postal Service visits more than 141 million homes and businesses every
day and is the only service provider to deliver to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives
no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of
postage, products and services. With annual revenues of more than $68.9 billion, it is the world’s leading
provider of mailing and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world.
The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world’s mail volume—some 202 billion letters,
advertisements, periodicals and packages a year—and serves seven million customers each day at its
40,000 retail locations nationwide.

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