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