Administrative Professionals Week and Day
(Formerly Professional Secretaries Week®/Professional Secretaries Day®)
2006 Theme "Creating Excellence" is the official theme for the 2006 observance of Administrative Professionals Week (April 23-29) and Administrative Professionals Day (April 26).

Administrative Professionals Day

 Administrative Professionals Day recognizes and celebrates the work of secretaries, administrative assistants, and other office professionals for their growing and diverse contributions to the workplace. In the United States, it is customary to take administrative professionals out to lunch on this day, and/or to give flowers or other gifts of appreciation.

Administrative Professionals Week^®  ―

Administrative Professionals Week was originally organized as "National Secretaries Week" by the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) and a consortium of office product manufacturers in 1952. Mary Barrett, president of the National Secretaries Association (now called the International Association of Administrative Professionals) and C. King Woodbridge, president of Dictaphone Corporation, were serving on a council charged with addressing a national shortage of skilled office workers that existed at the time. Together with Harry Klemfuss, public relations account executive at Young & Rubicam, they originated the idea for a secretaries week campaign.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer proclaimed the first National Secretaries Week held June 1-7, 1952, with Wednesday, June 4th designated National Secretaries Day.  Mary Barrett and C. King Woodbridge were invited to Washington, DC for the official announcement. The event received widespread publicity.

In 1955, the National Secretaries Association changed the date of National Secretaries Week to the last full week of April, with Wednesday of that week being designated National Secretaries Day. The name was changed to Professional Secretaries Week in 1981 when the National Secretaries Association became Professional Secretaries International (PSI).

In 1998, PSI changed its name to the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), to further reflect the expanding role of office staff. In the year 2000, the IAAP – official sponsor of the event – announced that the name would change from "Professional Secretaries Day" to "Administrative Professionals Day." The name change was made to keep in step with the changing job titles and expanding responsibilities of today's administrative workforce.

Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, IAAP remains the sole sponsor of Administrative Professionals Week and Administrative Professionals Day. IAAP continues to believe in the importance of this event in calling business attention to the increasing value and contributions of administrative professionals in today's workplace. 

Always observed annually during the last FULL week in April, standard Sunday through Saturday calendar week. April 23-29, 2006April 22-28, 2007April 20-26, 2008

Administrative Professionals Day^®  ―Observed annually the Wednesday of Administrative Professionals WeekApril 26, 2006April 25, 2007April 23, 2008

Event History and Objectives
This annual event was originally organized in 1952 as "National Secretaries Week" by the National Secretaries Association (now known as the International Association of Administrative Professionals) in conjunction with public relations executive Harry Klemfuss and a consortium of office product manufacturers. It was established as an effort to recognize secretaries for their contributions in the workplace, and to attract people to secretarial/administrative careers. In the year 2000, IAAP announced a name change for Professional Secretaries Week and Professional Secretaries Day. The names were changed to Administrative Professionals Week and Administrative Professionals Day to keep pace with changing job titles and expanding responsibilities of today’s administrative workforce.

Over the years, Administrative Professionals Week has become one of the largest workplace observances. The event is celebrated worldwide, bringing together millions of people for community events, educational seminars, and individual corporate activities recognizing support staff with gifts of appreciation.

Today, there are more than 3.9 million secretaries and administrative assistants working in the United States, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, and 8.9 million people working in various administrative support roles. In Canada, there are 500,000 administrative professionals, which includes 402,600 secretaries, 11,900 executive assistants, and 94,000 clerical supervisors. Millions more work in offices all over the world.

Hartson Dowd

thedowds@telusplanet.net