Nov. 14--Megan Brennan, the current chief operating officer of the U.S. Postal Service, has been chosen to be the first female postmaster general in the service's history. She began her career with the postal service as a letter carrier more than 25 years ago.
Brennan's appointment immediately followed the Friday retirement announcement of current Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, who has been in the job for four years and will step down in February.
Brennan has been with the financially struggling postal service since 1986 and said in a statement that she was "deeply honored and humbled to take on this role."
The retiring Donahoe has spent 39 years with the service and was praised by the chairman of its board of governors for leading the agency through tumultuous times.
"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," the chairman said in a statement.
UPDATE
8:21 a.m. This post has been updated to include details about Brennan's career with the postal service.
This post was originally published at 8:06 a.m.
