Gronouski was born in
Dunbar, Wisconsin, the son of Mary (Riley) and John Austin Gronouski. He was of Polish and Irish descent. He graduated from the
University of Wisconsin in 1942, and he joined the military during
World War II. Gronouski served as a navigator in the
Air Force until October 1945. Gronouski married the former Mary Louise Metz on January 24, 1948. They had two daughters, Stacy Ann Jennings and Julia Kay Glieberman. He earned an
M.A. in 1947 and a
Ph.D. in 1955, both from the University of Wisconsin. In 1952, he ran for the
United States Senate against
Joseph McCarthy, who won reelection. In 1959, Gronouski joined the
Wisconsin Department of Revenue and was named the executive director of the Revenue Survey Commission. In 1960, he became the Wisconsin state commissioner of taxation, and he supported
John F. Kennedy for
President. In 1963 Gronouski was appointed
Postmaster General, the first Polish-American Cabinet officer. As Postmaster General, Gronouski promoted the original five-digit
zip code system, and worked to end racial discrimination against postal employees. After he left the Cabinet on November 2, 1965, President
Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to be
Ambassador to Poland. After President
Richard M. Nixon took office in 1969, Gronouski became founding dean of the
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the
University of Texas at Austin. Gronouski served as dean until 1974. He served as a member of Eisenhower Commission (on international radio broadcasting) and as the Chairman of the
Board for International Broadcasting during the
Carter administration. In retirement, Gronouski lived in
Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he died on January 7, 1996. He is interred in Allouez Catholic Cemetery and Chapel Mausoleum in
Green Bay, Wisconsin. ==References==