Administrative Professionals Day

Administrative Professionals Week is always the last full week of April, with Wednesday of that week being designated 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 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.