The American Philatelic Society, the largest stamp collecting organization in the U.S., and the American Philatelic Research Library have retained a professional recruitment company to find its next executive director. Current executive director Scott English gave notice last fall that he would like to leave sometime this summer (2025).

The Moran Company, according to its website, specializes “in the recruitment of Executive Directors/CEOs, Fundraising/Development Directors, Hospital Foundation Directors and other senior leadership staff — who get results.

“We only serve the nonprofit community.”

The summary for the position cites four areas of primary duties and responsibilities: Organizational Leadership, Community Leadership, Financial Sustainability and Board Governance, that is, interaction with and monitoring of the members of the APS Board of Directors and the American Philatelic Research Library trustees.

There is much more detail on these four areas in the announcement of the search on the APS website. The announcement anticipates a salary of $175,000-200,000.

All applicants are directed to contact The Moran Company, not the APS. That link also provides background information on the APS and APRL.

[press release]
Nominations Open for FDC Writing Award
For Works Published In 2024

Nominations will be accepted through May 30, 2025, for the Philip H. Ward Award for Excellence in First Day Cover Literature, presented annually by the American First Day Cover Society. All works published in 2024 are eligible.

All articles and published in First Days, the AFDCS journal, are automatically considered. Other articles and works may be submitted to the Ward Award Committee chair, Mark Goodson, 315 East Dewey Street, Ellettsville, IN 47429-1901, bgdsn@comcast.net, either as clippings or .pdf scans of the material as published.

The award is presented each year at Americover, the annual convention of the AFDCS, which will be held August 14-17, as part of Great American Stamp Show 2025 in Schaumburg, Illinois. A complete list of past winners can be found at www.afdcs.net/Ward-Literature-Award

Past works honored by the AFDCS reflect a wide variety of sources, including journals of other organizations and books.

The award is named in honor of Philip H. Ward (1890-1963), the distinguished Philadelphia stamp collector, dealer and journalist who was a pioneer in the field of first day covers. The award was instituted by the AFDCS in 1964.

The American First Day Cover Society is a not-for-profit educational organization, established in 1955. In addition to First Days, the AFDCS also publishes handbooks and catalogues, and promotes the collecting of both modern and “classic” issues and cachets, as well as the exhibiting of FDCs.

For more information about the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org, e-mail afdcs@afdcs.org or write the AFDCS at Post Office Box 57, Somerset, WI 54025-0057.

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The Collectors Club in New York has named the newest honoree of its Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately. He is Dr. Yamil H. Kouri Jr. of Sarasota, Fla. The award was announced at the club’s annual meeting in New York on Jan. 8, 2024.

This richly deserved honor reflects Kouri’s long list of accomplishments in philatelic exhibiting, writing and organizing, as well as his tireless work in recent years to broaden the appeal and reach of the hobby by leading the organization of Boston 2026 World Expo, next year’s once-a-decade international stamp show.

Kouri was a 2020 signatory of the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists and winner of the American Philatelic Society’s Luff Award, among numerous other awards. He is a numbered member of the Real Academia Hispánica de Filatelia, the highest honor in Spanish philately.

Born in Cuba, Kouri began collecting stamps during his childhood in Mexico and Puerto Rico, naturally focusing on the Spanish Caribbean area, particularly the history of its maritime mails. He has published over 200 articles in some 20 different philatelic journals, and his first book, The Postal History of Spanish New Orleans, appeared in 2004; it has since been followed by half a dozen other books and 10 specialist monographs, most recently Mails of the 1861-1867 European Intervention in Mexico (with Steve Walske), published in 2022. Kouri was also the editor of The Cuban Philatelist and other journals.

An active philatelic exhibitor since his teenage years, Kouri has garnered Large Gold and Gold medals at numerous international shows with a handful of different exhibits, culminating in the A.P.S. Champion of Champions award in 2019 for “The First Postal Issues of the Spanish Antilles (1855-1865).” Kouri is also an internationally accredited postal history judge and has presented at dozens of shows and conferences around the world.

His leadership positions have included vice-president of the A.P.S., chairman of the board of the Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History, and vice president of the Federación Interamericana de Filatelia (FIAF).

In his spare time, he keeps busy as an oncologist and hematologist in Sarasota, Fla. where he moved with his wife, Suzanne in 2022 after living in the Boston area for three decades. Their five children now range in age from 24 to 35.

Kouri expressed his gratitude for the recognition bestowed on him by the award and touched on the real rewards philately has brought him.

“The friendships I have in the hobby have enriched my life incredibly,” Kouri said. “I am incredibly grateful.”

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APS Announces New Director of Education

The APS is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Director of Education, Dr. Tomalei Vess of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

“We are excited to welcome Tomalei to the team,” said APS Executive Director Scott English. “She brings her extensive experience and passion to help us expand our programs to educate and recruit collectors at all levels. We look forward to her leadership in shaping the future of education and engaging our philatelic community.”

Vess, who holds a PhD in biology from Duke University, has experience in both K-12 and university education, as well as museum education. That experience, in addition to her background in sales and entrepreneurship, will be crucial as she takes over the helm in Education.

In 2025, the department’s focus will be on the creation and launch of Stamp SCHOOL, a community engagement and learning platform established in memory of Stephen “Steve” Campbell. Vess will also be working to expand APS youth programs, develop new philatelic resources, and conduct outreach to stamp collectors of every level.

Joining Vess in establishing these programs is Sarah Aldrich, who was recently appointed as both the APS learning coordinator and one of the APRL’s digital projects assistants.

“Sarah and I are excited to learn from and collaborate with our membership, and beyond,” Vess said. “We are ready to create a vibrant space for philatelic education and engagement to sustain and grow the hobby.”

To contact the Education department, email education@stamps.org, or reach Vess directly at tvess@stamps.org.

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The American First Day Cover Society, the only not-for-profit organization in the world dedicated to the stamp collecting specialty of first day covers, has named Anthony Bard of the United Kingdom as editor of its award-winning journal, First Days.

Tony is also the editor of The London Philatelist, the journal of the Royal Philatelic Society London, as well as the Scandinavian Collectors Club’s The Posthorn, Korean Philately and The Mayflower for the American Stamp Club of Great Britain. Like First Days, The Posthorn won large gold medals in 2024 Literature competitions.

“I confess to being an incurable philatelist,” he says. “I began as a stamp collector, became (and remained) a postal historian and was even briefly a producer of limited edition Great Britain first day covers.” He has been a fellow of the RPSL since 1990.

Before becoming a full-time postal historian in 2015, Tony owned food businesses (both human and pet). Even before that, however, he won The Royal’s Tapling Medal (left) for the best London Philatelist article in 2014, and his exhibits of the postal history of Jammu and Kashmir have won international gold medals. More recently, he has shown single-frame exhibits of Korean War postal history.

Tony lives in West Sussex, England, with his wife and two dogs. You can reach him at editor.firstdays@gmail or editor@afdcs.org.

First Days is published six times a year. The AFDCS also publishes handbooks and catalogues, and promotes the collecting of both modern and “classic” issues and cachets, as well as exhibiting FDCs. It offers awards for outstanding first day cover exhibits and annual contests for both serious FDC literature and the best FDC cachets of the past year. It is also a co-host of the annual Great American Stamp Show, which this year is August 14-17 in Schaumburg, Ill.

For more information about the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org, e-mail afdcs@afdcs.org or write the AFDCS at Post Office Box 57, Somerset, Wis., 54025-0057.

AFDCS Members Reelect Four to The Board

Members of the American First Day Cover Society have reelected four people to the organization’s board of directors: Michael Lake, Cynthia Scott, Ralph Nafziger and Lorraine Bailey. There were five candidates running for the four three-year terms:

Michael Lake (199)
Cynthia Scott (193)
Ralph Nafziger (190)
Lorraine Bailey (152)
Walter Douglas George (141)

In addition, Chris Calle, Michael Moticia, Michael Rosenthal, and Don Trieschmann each received one write-in vote. Moticia is already serving on the board, after election in 2022. More than 230 ballots were cast, an increase from last year.

This was the first AFDCS election for George, a former supermarket industry executive, and a member of the Convention Planning Committee.

Lake, also of Massachusetts, is also AFDCS Education Committee chair. Scott, from Indiana, is currently Chair of the board and has previously served the society in many other posts. Nafziger lives in Oregon and is also executive vice president. Bailey, a former AFDCS Sales chair from Virginia, is currently on the Honors & Awards Committee and was granted an Honorary Life Membership in 2008 for her long service to the AFDCS.

Four seats on the AFDCS Board of Directors are elected each year for three-year terms, beginning Jan. 1. In addition to the 12 elected directors, the president, the editor of the official journal First Days, and the general counsel serve on the board ex officio, if not elected to the board in their own right. The board meets in person at least once a year and as needed via the internet.

AFDCS directors are not compensated for serving on the board nor reimbursed for their travel expenses.

For more information about the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org, e-mail afdcs@afdcs.org or write the AFDCS at Post Office Box 57, Somerset, WI 54025-0057

Patrick Morgan of St. Charles, Mo., is the new chair of the Membership Department of the American First Day Cover Society and a member of its Executive Committee. He succeeds Foster E. Miller, III, who had held the position since 2008.

Morgan, with an MBA from Washington University, worked for IBM for 25 years, where he managed infrastructure architecture for services customers before retiring, and served for four years on the board of the St. Louis affiliate of the Susan G. Komen breast cancer organization. He is presently in his first term on the AFDCS Board of Directors.

Pat collects FDCs topically — by subject — and is also a member of the American Topical Association, as well as the American Philatelic Society, Poster Stamp Collectors Club, and the Greater Mound City Stamp Club, of which he is Treasurer. He also collects postal cards with Fleetwood cachets and Artmaster airmail FDCs, and has written articles for First Days and Topical Time.

“Pat was highly recommend by everyone to whom I talked,” said AFDCS president Lloyd A. de Vries. “He started looking at our membership programs even before he was confirmed by the Board.”

Miller remains chair of the AFDCS Sales Department and represents the organization at many shows each year. He is also on the Board.

“We could not have made it through the past few years without Foster reconstructing and then maintaining our membership records,” said de Vries. “Now, however, I want to lighten his load and also put more emphasis on recruitment and retention of members.”

The AFDCS is the largest not-for-profit first day cover society in the world, with members in more than a dozen countries. It publishes an award-winning journal, First Days, six times a year, as well as handbooks, catalogues and You-Tube videos, and is a co-sponsor of the annual Great American Stamp Show. It holds an annual cachetmaking contest and two mail auctions a year, and encourages philatelic exhibiting and writing about FDCs.

Morgan can be reached directly at membership@afdcs.org. For more information about the AFDCS, visit www.afdcs.org, e-mail afdcs@afdcs.org or write the AFDCS at Post Office Box 57, Somerset, WI 54025-0057

Below is an excerpt from American Philatelic Society executive director Scott English’s column in the December 2024 issue of the APS journal, The American Philatelist and distributed as an email to members.

Is he going to return to mainstream real-world politics? “Right now, my focus is on assisting the Search Committee and the APS Board in launching the search for the next Executive Director and working with our staff to do everything we can to help the next Executive Director succeed,” he told The Virtual Stamp Club in email. “I will eventually have to consider my next position and share that news with our fellow members when the time is right.

“No matter where I go, I will always remain a member of the APS and APRL and will enjoy visiting clubs and shows as a friend and collector for years to come.”

More comments from others are included in the text below.

After nearly 10 years with the American Philatelic Society and the American Philatelic Research Library, I’ve made the difficult decision to move on to the next chapter in life. As many of you may know, I concluded in 2023 that it was time to move on, but after discussions with the APS Board, I agreed to stay on to complete some much-needed work through 2026. I appreciate the Board’s faith in me to stay for two more years. As we complete those projects in the months ahead, it is time for me to step aside for new leadership prepared to lead the organization, growing our community of collectors for the next decade.

It’s not the end, but the beginning of the end of my time with the APS. I plan to stay with the APS while the Board searches for the next Executive Director. This can be a challenging process that should be carefully conducted, so it could take a year to successfully transition from one Executive Director to another. In the meantime, I will work with the APS Board and our team in Bellefonte to ensure this can be concluded with a smooth handoff.

Over the months ahead, I’ll connect with and share with the APS members about my time as the Executive Director. For now, I want to share a few thoughts with you.

With Gratitude
The APS is for members by members. From my first day on the job, I’ve met enthusiastic collectors who believe in this great hobby and the APS. The selflessness of your time to contribute your thoughts, actions, and passion is beyond words. The stamp-collecting community is warm and welcoming. Every interaction has been a learning experience, and I’m grateful for your kindness and hospitality.

Wherever you serve the hobby, please know you’re making a difference in the lives of others. Members have shared thousands of stories with me over the years, and the thing they remember most is who helped them along the way and why they gave their time in return.

With Pride
In my time here, we’ve celebrated some great wins:

• Construction of a state-of-the-art research library
• Recovering and sale of Position 76 of the McCoy Block of the Inverted Jenny
• Thrived during the pandemic, adapting to the changing circumstances
• Retiring the $5.4 million mortgage debt on the Match Factory
• Replacing the Tiffany Dinner with the Stamp Soiree, which annually raises more than $100,000 for important APS and APRL missions
• Recovering from the COVID-era tenant loss, going from 40 percent occupancy at the end of 2021 to more than 90 percent this year
• Partnering with the American Topical Association and the American First Day Cover Society to form the Great American Stamp Show, North America’s largest annual stamp show
• Launching Stamp Chats and StampEd, which are accessible online resources for collectors to learn about stamps and their hobby

These are just a few examples of how we’ve transformed the APS and the hobby. Each one took the hard work of many people in the hobby, including you. Thank you for your support, enthusiasm, and faith.

“My background of teaching and public education gave me the big picture understanding that the APS had to change with the times in order to be relevant in future decades,” APS president Cheryl R. Ganz told The VSC. “Scott has been a transformative executive director for nearly a decade.

“Scott has led us into the twenty-first century with a positive vision for the future.”

With Optimism
The APS and APRL are in better financial shape than in decades. We are debt-free and generate income from our third-party tenants to support the library. Our investments are paying great dividends, and we are building our cash reserves to prepare for future needs.

Thanks to the kindness of Al and Dottie Kugel, we’ve secured more than $2.2 million to date for a website replacement and replacing the roof on a portion of the Match Factory. There will be more news on the Kugel Estate sale in the coming months, and we’ll share those updates with you. I’ve been working with Dottie to find the proper way to honor Al, and we will do so before I leave.

Thanks to Karen Campbell, who pledged $100,000 to start the Stephen Campbell Home of Online Learning (Stamp SCHOOL). Her pledge launched a campaign to raise $250,000 to build an education program for collectors of all levels. I pledge to complete this campaign in the months ahead to offer members a full menu of options worldwide.

Thanks to Bob Mason, whose estate helped us complete the mortgage debt payments in 2020, we launched the current digital library project, now known as the Robert A. Mason Digital Library (RAMDL). We’ve hired a grant writer to help boost the mission even more, allowing us to improve the user experience, increase the number of objects available to search, and begin to develop preservation policies for orphaned digital projects. We’ll have more exciting news to share soon on additional content housed in the RAMDL.

Thanks to the APS and APRL boards for providing vigilant and thoughtful leadership over the years. Members only occasionally see the work involved in developing our strategies, managing the finances, and looking toward the future. Still, our boards have worked effectively to resolve some of our time’s greatest challenges and opportunities. They are all volunteers who give their time, so the reward for hard work is often more hard work.

Thanks to the dedicated APS and APRL staff and volunteers. Our staff and volunteers in Bellefonte work enthusiastically daily to serve the members and our community. They are more than just staff; they’ve become like family to me. My routine joke is, “If something goes well, good job! If something goes wrong, it’s my fault.” I would like to single out Leonard and Darlene Bloom, our extraordinary volunteers, who show up every day to manage donations, sell through the Stamp and Cover shop, and help in more ways than I can count.

Thanks to my wife, Kendra. She’s supported the long hours, the travel, and the time spent with me at stamp shows and stamp clubs around the country. While I would meet with members, she picked up an interest in collecting stamps, covers, and postcards, recruiting new members for the APS, and meeting and talking with collectors at any hour of the day or night. I could not have possibly done any of this without her support. We’ve made friendships that will last beyond my time as Executive Director.

This is not goodbye since I will still be around, at least through the Great American Stamp Show. In the meantime, I will continue to work on your behalf and for the hobby I’ve come to love. Thank you for all you do for the APS, APRL, and the hobby!