2016 Lottery Industry Hall of Fame Members

Dermot Griffin

Chief Executive,
Premier Lotteries Ireland
​(PLI), Operator of the Irish National Lottery

Country: IRELAND
Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) is the operator of the Irish National Lottery.  PLI was awarded a twenty year license to operate the National Lottery by the Irish Government in November 2014. The staff and management of the previous operator, An Post National Lottery Company, including CEO Dermot Griffin, transferred to PLI, ensuring continuity of service and collectively have over 50 years’ experience in managing Ireland’s National Lottery. As the CEO of PLI, Dermot Griffin has been responsible for leading a fundamental change program at the Irish National Lottery, introducing a new Vision for the National Lottery ‘to provide exciting and engaging lottery games that bring fun and entertainment to everyone’.  He recently led the successful transition process in the National Lottery to move from public ownership under An Post National Lottery Company to private ownership under Premier Lotteries Ireland.  Dermot is also a director of the EuroMillions Group.

The transition to the new system in the last quarter of 2014 represented the largest technology roll-out that the National Lottery has ever undertaken and the largest in Irish retail ever. It required the connection of 20,000 pieces of equipment in 3,700 retail outlets across the country; 44 retailer briefings for over 3,000 retailers; and the introduction of a new website, online platform and central telecommunications systems.
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Dermot joined the Irish National Lottery as Chief Executive Officer in 2005.  Prior to that, he worked for twelve years with Vodafone Ireland where he was Commercial Director leading the Sales and Distribution activities of that company, having previously held the roles of Business Development Director and Finance Director. Prior to Vodafone, Dermot worked with Eircom for 3 years in Corporate Accounting. He commenced his career with KPMG where he qualified as a member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants. Dermot also holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from UCD.

Hansjörg Höltkemeier

Managing Director and Member of the Board, Deutsche Klassenlotterie
Berlin (DKLB)
​
​President of the European Lottery Association (EL)

Country: GERMANY
Since 2005, Hansjörg has been a Member of the Board of Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin (DKLB). His focus is on strategy, marketing, sales, and information-technology.  Hansjörg was elected to the position of president of the European Lotteries Association (EL) in June of 2015.  Hansjörg has been a Member of the EL Executive Committee for the last seven years and, since 2011, chair of the EL Finance, Personnel and Organization Committee as 1st Vice-President of EL. 
During his career in the lotteries, Hansjörg Höltkemeier has been a driver for strategy, innovation, and adoption of new technologies. For example, from the beginning of his service to Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin (DKLB) in 2005, he did not just focus on internet and mobile to meet customer expectations and to expand customer base.  His focus has instead been on digitalization as a whole, to implement digitalization of processes to improve customer-care and sales-support within DKLB. 

Beside these initiatives on the player´s side, and operating within the limitations of strong regulation, Hansjörg drove the development of a professional B-to-B service to other lotteries. Under his lead, DKLB today provides a single data center to deliver a full backend-IT-service to two other German lotteries, and an internet-service including help-desk to six other lotteries in Germany.  

As President of the EL, Hansjörg is working hard to support the efforts of his colleagues to adapt to the changes in the world of lotteries and gambling by redesigning strategy for the Association. He is promoting an increase in interaction and collaboration to deliver more value to the membership of the EL, while also increasing visibility to stakeholders in Brussels.  

Hansjörg started his professional career after studying Economics in Münster and Rotterdam. He began in a Daimler-Benz-subsidiary-company, focused on marketing consulting and services, then serving in different management positions in marketing and sales, then as client-executive and industry expert. Within his career, the focus of Hansjörg’s career moved step-by-step from marketing in the automotive-industry, to information-technology, and then over to the public-sector. 
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Before joining the Lottery business, Hansjörg worked with Electronic Data Systems (EDS) as Client Executive public-sector, responsible for EMEA-region and based in Brussels, Frankfurt and Hamburg. Hansjörg was born in 1964, is married and has two children.

Rose J. Hudson​

President & Chief
Executive Officer,
Louisiana Lottery
​Corporation Lotteries 

​First Vice President of the North American Association of State and Provincial (NASPL)

Country: USA
Celebrating her 10th year as President/CEO of the Louisiana Lottery Corporation, Rose Hudson continues to grow contributions for K-12 public education, recently earning Public Gaming Research Institute’s 2015 Sharon Sharp “Good Causes” Award for having the highest percentage increase in net funds transferred to its beneficiary. 

Ms. Hudson’s tenure coincides with an upward Lottery sales trend, thanks to her deployment of innovative technology which has contributed to the Lottery’s ending 2016 as its best sales year ever.  Her diligent pursuit of quality, integrity and public trust also led Louisiana to become first lottery in the country to receive industry verification of its quality assurance processes. 
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Joining the Lottery at its inception in 1991 as Executive Resource Director, Ms. Hudson moved on to the Department of Social Services and later to the Department of Education.  She returned to the Lottery in 2000 as Senior Vice President to oversee human resources, statewide events and governmental relations before becoming President in 2006.

Creatively, her sixth sense in marketing has helped the Lottery secure award-winning partnerships with local companies and celebrities, such as the New Orleans Saints, Troy & Jacob Landry of Swamp People and Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning to develop blockbuster games.  Ms. Hudson most recently served as Immediate Past President of the Multi-State Lottery Association, (MUSL) where she also chaired its Powerball Game Group. In addition, she currently serves as First Vice President, following tenures as Treasurer, Secretary and Region II Director of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL).

Besides industry leadership, Ms. Hudson serves on the boards of Woman’s Hospital, the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, Mary Bird Perkins Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center, Foundation for Woman’s Hospital and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.  Her dedication has resulted in numerous accolades including Dillard University’s “David Dillard” Award of Excellence, Louisiana State University’s Public Administration Institute’s Alumnus of the Year Award and National Diversity Council’s “Most Powerful and Influential Women in Louisiana” designation, as well as induction into LSU’s E.J. Ourso College of Business’s Hall of Distinction and Nicholls State University Louisiana Center for Women and Government’s Hall of Fame.

Ms. Hudson holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Urban Studies and Public Policy from Dillard University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a specialization in Human Resource Management from LSU. She also holds the Society of Human Resource Management’s designation, Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).

Norman Lingle

Executive Director,
South Dakota Lottery

Country: USA
Norman Lingle was named Executive Director of the South Dakota Lottery in January of 2005 which makes him the longest serving executive director in the Lottery’s 29‐year history.  Mr. Lingle grew up in Pierre, South Dakota and graduated from South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He began his working career at the Governor’s Office of Economic Development where he spent 17 years, rising to the level of program manager for an infrastructure finance program that assisted local governments in preparing for and recruitment of expanding or relocating businesses. His extensive management skills and experience in that role prompted the South Dakota Department of Revenue to recruit him for leading the South Dakota Lottery.

As Executive Director of the South Dakota Lottery, Lingle oversees the instant, online and video lottery programs. The video lottery program is the state of South Dakota’s second largest source of revenue behind the state sales tax. During Mr. Lingle’s tenure, the Lottery has contributed over $1.1 billion in net proceeds to the good causes the Lottery supports including education, property tax relief, and the development of natural resources.

Among his accomplishments at the Lottery, Mr. Lingle has advanced the use of technology throughout the agency; worked with the Lottery Commission for the approval and implementation of line‐up games for video lottery; and assisted the Commission in facilitating and adopting a yearly strategic plan outlining yearly goals and objectives.  Mr. Lingle is also active within the Multi State Lottery Association (MUSL) having held the positions of President of MUSL and Chair of the Powerball, Hot Lotto and Wild Card game groups; he currently serves as the Chair of the MUSL Security and Integrity committee.
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A strong supporter of education and community programs, Mr. Lingle has served on the Board of Directors for the Pierre/Fort Pierre Boys and Girls Club and the Pierre Education Foundation, and served six years on the Pierre School District Board of Education including one year as President.
Mr. Lingle and his wife of 22 years, Sarah, have three daughters: Abby, Hannah and Emily.

Sue van der Merwe

Chief Operating Officer,
Tatts Group Lotteries 

Country: AUSTRALIA
Sue van der Merwe is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Tatts Group Lotteries and has made a dedicated and outstanding contribution to the lottery industry over a period of 26 years and counting. Her lottery industry journey has taken her from Senior Brand Manager at the Golden Casket Lottery through various positions to her current leadership role as Chief Operating Officer of Tatts Group’s Lottery Operating Unit. As COO, Sue manages one of the largest and most complex lottery operations in the world – one that comprises seven jurisdictions and a suite of leading brands, with both retail and iLottery operations. She continues to deliver exceptional results to all the stakeholders in the Australian market. 

Notable achievements during Sue’s 26 year lottery involvement include a number of major product launches, building a world class player membership and CRM program, introduction of digital lottery play, enhancing the franchise based retail distribution model and store presentation, implementing Responsible Play programs and actively supporting a range of CSR and community related initiatives. Sue is the Chair of the joint pooling Bloc for several Australian national draw games and has been very influential in building a balanced portfolio of games which match the different needs and motivations of players. 

Sue is a passionate and energetic leader in the lottery industry and she is deeply motivated by the game brands which engage millions of players each week, and the communities which benefit from lottery proceeds. 
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Sue has been a strong supporter of the wider industry, as a speaker and contributor at various WLA and APLA events. She also played a key role in organising the 2010 WLA Convention and Trade Show in Brisbane.