Mark Acton was the first member of PRC staff to join the panel of commissioners.  When concluding his present term, Commissioner Acton will have served at the PRC longer than any other commissioner.  He is the sole sitting commissioner to have been appointed as a commissioner of both the former Postal Rate Commission, and now, the Postal Regulatory Commission.  Commissioner Acton has served previously as PRC Vice-Chairman.  A majority of commissioners have joined with Commissioner Acton in approving every order, rulemaking, opinion, and viewpoint issued by the agency throughout the entirety of his years of tenure.

Commissioner Acton frequently attends the mailing industry’s largest trade show the National Postal Forum, and has attended meetings of the Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee.  He has appeared before key stakeholders’ organizations including the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, the American Catalog Mailers Association, the Association of Alternate Postal Systems, the Association of Postal Commerce, the Association of United States Postal Lessors, the Center for Research in Regulated Industries, the Idealliance, the International Mailers Advisory Group, the Magazine Publishers of America, the Major Mailers Association, the National Association of Postal Supervisors, the National Newspaper Association, the National Postal Policy Council, the Parcel Shippers Association, the Postal Customer Council, the Postal Policy Council, the Triangle World Mail and Express Americas, and others.

In addition to his years of public administration experience at the Commission, Mr. Acton has an extensive professional history of active involvement in the public policy arena – including nine years managing legislative and regulatory concerns as Staff Director for the Republican National Committee Counsel's Office. He held posts as Special Assistant to the RNC Chief Counsel, as well as RNC Counsel's Office Government Relations Officer, and Deputy to the Chairman of the 2004 Republican National Convention.  As Assistant Director for RNC Major Donor Programs, Mr. Acton managed Republican Party national direct mail marketing campaigns.

Commissioner Acton is a native of Louisville, Kentucky and a graduate of the University of Louisville.  He earned a Master of Business Administration from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Mr. Acton is a member of the University of Louisville Alumni Association, Republican National Lawyers Association, the United States Tennis Association, and the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.