GPO Director Names Chief Communications Officer
WASHINGTON —The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) Director Hugh Nathanial
Halpern has named Gary Somerset the Agency’s Chief Communications Officer. As Chief
Communications Officer, Somerset serves as Agency spokesperson, manages GPO’s social
media platforms, oversees GPO’s public relations activities, employee communications,
branding, photography and events. He serves as the principal advisor to GPO’s Director,
Deputy Director and Chief of Staff and executives on all communication strategies and
opportunities.
“Communication is critical to everything we do, and Gary leads a team that delivers for
GPO teammates and the public,” said Director Hugh Nathanial Halpern. “Gary effectively
led all of our communication groups through the COVID-19 pandemic. His institutional
knowledge of GPO as well as his broadcasting background have made him an invaluable
resource to our team. GPO congratulates Gary on this promotion.”
Somerset has more than two decades of media, public relations and communications
experience. Prior to being promoted to Chief Communications Officer in 2023, he
managed GPO’s Public Relations Office. He has been part of the Agency’s Public Relations
Office since 2006. During his tenure, Somerset has promoted and placed numerous stories
on the important work GPO teammates do for our country in national media and has been
responsible for the Agency’s social media platforms. He has been awarded an American
Business Award for Public Relations Production of the Year, among many others.
Somerset has also been honored for his public relations initiatives by the leader of GPO
with three Public Printer Distinguished Service Awards. During the COVID-19 pandemic,
he led all of the Agency’s communications groups to more than doubling the amount of
information disseminated to external and internal audiences, which was instrumental in
GPO being named one of the best places to work in America two years in a row.
Prior to coming to GPO, Somerset spent more than a decade working as a broadcast
journalist at several network television affiliates throughout the country. He covered
Presidential campaigns, newsmakers and community issues as a news anchor/reporter at
WSYX-TV in Columbus, OH, WKEF-TV in Dayton, OH, WXXA-TV in Albany, NY and KSWT TV in Yuma, AZ. Somerset began his television career at WFSB-TV in his home state of Connecticut.
Somerset graduated from Northeastern University in Boston, MA with a Bachelor of
Science degree in Journalism.
GPO is the Federal Government’s resource for publishing trusted information for the
Federal Government to the American people. The GPO is responsible for the production
and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the Federal
Government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official
publications of Congress, the White House, and other Federal agencies in digital and print
formats. GPO provides for permanent public access to Federal Government information at
no charge through www.govinfo.gov and partnerships with approximately 1,100 libraries
nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. For more
information, please visit www.gpo.gov.
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