FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Daniel Smith
(202) 882-5239

January 29, 2002

DANIEL SMITH TO RESIGN AS HEAD USHER AT WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL

WASHINGTON‹ Daniel R. Smith Sr., head usher at Washington National Cathedral since January 2001, resigned after a year of service to take an executive position with a non-profit organization in the area, according to the Very Rev. Nathan D. Baxter, dean of Washington National Cathedral.

Mr. Smith, a native of Winsted, Connecticut, has ushered at the Cathedral since 1995 and has a long history of service to the Episcopal Church as Senior Warden at St. Lukešs Episcopal Church in Bethesda, Maryland and as an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.

In his capacity as head usher, Mr. Smith was one of the Cathedralšs official greeters charged with seating the President and his family when they visited the Cathedral. He distributed leaflets, provided information on location of facilities and hearing assisted devices, and served nearly fifty Sundays at the Cathedralšs weekly 11 a.m. service, as well as other special services including the Cathedralšs National Day of Prayer and Remembrance service commemorating the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Katharine Graham funeral, and the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service.

Retired from the federal government in 1994, he served most recently as special projects director in the Health Education and Welfare/Health and Human Services division. Previously, he worked for nearly 25 years in various capacities for the federal government.

Among his many awards, Mr. Smith is the recipient of a distinguished Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) award and a 1995 Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Brain Trust Award. Also, he was recently appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the Pan American-Pan African Association, Inc. (The PAPA), an NGO in consultative status with the United Nations Economic Council.

Mr. Smith is a graduate of Springfield College in Springfield, Illinois. He resides in the Washington, D.C. area and has two adult children.

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