2014 Lottery Industry Hall of Fame Members
Gary Grief
Executive Director of the Texas Lottery Commission
Country: USA |
Gary Grief was appointed Executive Director of the Texas Lottery Commission in March 2010. As Executive Director, Gary oversees an enterprise that generated over $4.4 billion in annual sales, and has contributed more than $1 billion annually to the State of Texas every year since 2004.
Gary has been an integral part of the success of the Texas Lottery Commission since its inception. Appointed in 1991 by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts to the original eight-member Lottery Task Force assigned to research and launch the Texas Lottery, Gary went on to Gary assum the role of Statewide Manager of Claim Centers, overseeing 24 field offices throughout Texas. In 1997, he was promoted to Director of Lottery Operations, a position in which he received the 2002 “Powers Award” for Performance Excellence in Lottery Operations by the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL). Also in 2002, Gary was appointed by the Commission to serve the first of what would eventually be three separate terms as Acting Executive Director. When not serving as Acting Executive Director, Gary served as Deputy Executive Director until his official appointment as Executive Director in 2010. Gary has contributed to the progress of multi-state lottery initiatives as well. In 2008, Gary actively participated in discussions between the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) and the Mega Millions group to reach an agreement on cross-selling both Powerball and Mega Millions. These talks came to fruition in January of 2010 when the majority of U.S. lottery jurisdictions began selling both products, leading to increased revenue generated nationwide. From September 2010 to August 2012, Gary served as the Lead Director for Mega Millions, a role in which he led industry discussions with MUSL regarding a potential price increase for Powerball. An agreement was reached in 2011 and the Powerball price point was changed to $2 in January 2012. Since that time, record jackpots, sales and revenue for Powerball have been recorded by almost all lottery jurisdictions in North America. In June 2012, Gary worked closely with the Mega Millions Consortium and GTECH to develop and push for change to the Mega Millions game, culminating with a significant modification to the game in October 2013, a change that once again led to increased sales and revenue. Gary recently completed his term as President of North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL), and continues to serve as the NASPL Accounting Subcommittee Chairman. As a result of Gary’s long and distinguished career in the lottery industry, Gary was recognized in 2012 with the PGRI Major Peter J. O’Connell Lottery Industry Lifetime Achievement Award. |
Jean M. Jørgensen
Executive Director of the World Lottery Association (WLA)
Country: DENMARK Mr. Jørgensen lost his battle with cancer and passed away in 2016. |
Jean Jørgensen is Executive Director of The World Lottery Association, an organization that counts 151 national lotteries from more than 80 countries and 60+ suppliers of lottery services. He has served in this position since January 2009. The Executive Director reports to the Executive Committee which is made up of 13 individuals from different countries and represents five continents. The WLA provides services to the lottery industry which include convention organization for 1,000+ delegates; seminars; a highly respected industry magazine and a website, and standard certification on lottery security and responsible gaming.
Having established a sound financial position for the World Lottery Association, Jean’s focus has been on developing good relations with the regional associations, offering joint services to avoid duplications and competition. Some of the new unique services that have been introduced include the quarterly WLA sales index, the Scholarship program; a RG program for associate members and strategy discussion papers about online gaming; social gaming and sports betting integrity issues. In June 2005, Jean established himself as an independent adviser and EU-lobbyist in Brussels, Belgium, to follow and report on European gaming politics to Nordic lotteries. Lottery trade associations such as the EL (European Lotteries) and the WLA frequently relied on Jean as a seminar moderator and he worked for the Danish Government on its revision of the gambling legislation. Jean represented the six lotteries of the Viking Lotto group in the “EuroJackpot” project group together with German and Italian representatives. “EuroJackpot” was launched in March 23, 2012, and is still running. Prior to this, Jean served for 14 years in various capacities at Dansk Tipstjeneste (now Danske Spil), up to and including the position of chief executive officer. Jean’s career at Danske Spil began in 1991 as Assistant to the CEO, in charge of international relations and project leader of the first pan-jurisdictional Lotto project—Viking Lotto—among independent countries with their own languages and currencies. In 1997, Jean was promoted to Vice President at Dansk Tipstjeneste A/S in charge of customers and CEO of two subsidiaries dealing with horse racing and slot machines. At the beginning of 2005, Danske Spil and its two subsidiaries had 260 employees and sales of DKK 9,7 billion (€ 1.3 bn). Sales grew more than DKK 2.2 bn (€ 297 million) or more than 25% during Jean’s two years (2003-2004) as acting CEO. Social responsibility initiatives introducing gaming and age limits were defined and introduced as part of the daily operations. Jean served as Junior Professional Officer for the Fund Raiser at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland; he also worked at the Danish Ministry of Education at the department for statistical and economic analysis. Jean holds a master’s degree in economics and an Executive-MBA. He is married to journalist Gitte Sehested-Grove with whom he has two daughters. |
David Loeb
President of the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC)
Country: CANADA |
David Loeb is a veteran of the lottery industry, with over 30 years of service with Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC). David is a CPA, having worked with Coopers & Lybrand (now Pricewaterhouse Coopers) prior to joining WCLC. He started in 1983 as Manager, Special Projects, and progressed through a number of positions prior to occupying the office of President since March, 1994.
David is recognized as an important member of Canada’s lottery industry, and in turn, the global lottery community. As President of WCLC, he has multi-jurisdictional experience in both regional and national spheres. He oversees the operation of WCLC—a complex lottery organization that covers six jurisdictions: the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as well as the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut who participate as Associate Members. He is known for his commitment to protecting lottery players, and was instrumental in developing WCLC’s industry leading policies that strengthen consumer protection against retailer fraud. David has also played an active role in Canada’s industry-leading multi-jurisdictional success, both in lotto and instant games, through the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation (ILC). ILC is responsible for Canada’s national games, and David is a member of ILC’s Executive Committee, having served as President several times. An active member of the wider lottery industry, David was the NASPL representative of the WLA Executive from 2001–2006, before being reappointed to that Committee in January, 2012. He is currently the Chair of the WLA Audit Committee. |
Tan Soo Nan
Retired Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Pools (Private) Limited
Country: SINGAPORE |
Mr Tan Soo Nan was Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Pools (Private) Limited from 2002 until his retirement. Under his leadership, Singapore Pools transformed into a high-performance organization built on an enviable foundation of integrity and responsible gaming. He and his outstanding organization exemplify the principle that most lottery organizations around the world are founded on—that is, to be an important source of funding for good causes, operating in a socially responsible manner.
Mr Tan is highly-respected as an individual and in the industry for the active and leading role he plays in the global lottery community. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Asia Pacific Lottery Association (APLA) since 2002, became Vice Chairman in 2008 and has been presiding as its Chairman since 2012. Mr Tan joined the World Lottery Association (WLA) Executive Committee in 2012. Mr Tan led the Singapore Pools team in hosting the 2006 WLA Convention and Trade Show. It became one of the most successful in WLA’s history, attended by 1000 delegates from 73 nations. He also contributed significantly to the organization of APLA’s regional seminars and conferences since 2008. He took on crucial roles such as program development, speaker sourcing and the securing of host organizations. His initiatives such as Emerging Lotteries Scheme and Volunteers’ Recognition Scheme have been adopted by APLA. Mr Tan also steered Singapore Pools to achieve global standards. In 2012, it achieved Level 4 of the WLA Responsible Gaming Framework. In 2014 Singapore Pools obtained the WLA Security Control Standard Certification. Being a champion for innovation, Mr Tan spearheaded the launch of phone betting service that comes with direct credit/debit links with major banks. This creative use of technology earned Singapore Pools the “ZDNet Asia Smart 50 Award.” Mr Tan holds firm beliefs in social responsibility. In his words: “The community must see us not just as a lottery organization or gaming company. Our staff must come to work for a higher purpose. I would like the community to appreciate that many of the people who work in Singapore Pools do care for the well-being of the community.” This led to the initiation of i-SHINE in 2003, a staff community program where Singapore Pools volunteers actively reach out to the less fortunate in society. Mr Tan walks the talk with his personal involvement in helping numerous good causes through his wide government and business network. Under Singapore Pool’s “With A Heart” series of fundraising events, he had raised millions in donation funds for the welfare of many beneficiaries. |