Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has appointed Mary Harville as the Kentucky Lottery Corporation’s new president and CEO.
Harville becomes the sixth CEO of the Kentucky Lottery, replacing Tom Delacenserie who retired in March after three years at the helm.
She has been with the lottery since 2004, serving as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. She joined the lottery from Louisville law firm Reed Weitkamp Schell and Vice, where she was a member and practiced for 16 years.
“I’m honored and deeply grateful to Governor Beshear and our board for selecting me to serve as the next president and CEO of the Kentucky Lottery,” said Harville. “I’m so proud to be part of the great team already in place, which is proven by our record-breaking fiscal year for both sales and return to our state.
“As a life-long Kentuckian and graduate of a Kentucky university, I am also proud to lead the organization that funds KEES scholarships for Kentucky college students, and my goal is to ensure we continue to provide this much-needed funding.”
Prior to her work at the lottery, Harville gained extensive experience in a variety of commercial litigation matters, and successfully represented clients in contract disputes, copyright and trademark disputes, antitrust litigation, and employment matters. She argued cases before the Kentucky Supreme Court and the Kentucky Court of Appeals, and was lead counsel on cases before the US Court of Appeals and the US District Courts. She becomes the first female leader of the Kentucky Lotttery.
“Based upon her many years of senior leadership with the Kentucky Lottery, as board chair I can confidently assert that Mary’s selection as CEO is a wonderful step in keeping the Kentucky Lottery moving forward to new and bigger heights,” said Kentucky Lottery board chairman Mark Sommer.
“We at the Kentucky Lottery are most appreciative of Governor Beshear’s continued support of our education funding mission and of his appointment of Mary, who will be the first woman CEO in Kentucky Lottery history and one of only a handful of women lottery directors across the United States. We look forward to great things under Mary’s leadership.”