FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Lottery Corporation has its new president and CEO. 

Gov. Andy Beshear appointed Mary Harville to the position, and the lottery's board of directors confirmed her at a special meeting Thursday.

Harville has worked for the Lottery over the past 16 years, serving as senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary. She previously worked for Louisville law firm Reed Weitkamp Schell and Vice, where she 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.”

In 1984, Harville earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky before receiving her Juris Doctor from UK in 1988. She then practiced law in Louisville and Jefferson County.

Harville has experienced in a number of commercial litigation matters, successfully representing clients in contract disputes, copyright and trademark disputes, antitrust litigation, and employment matters. Previously, she has argued cases before the Kentucky Supreme Court and the Kentucky Court of Appeals. She has served as lead counsel on cases before the United States Court of Appeals and the United States District Courts.

“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 missionand 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.”

Harville, replacing Tom Delacenserie who retired in March, will become the sixth president and CEO of the Kentucky Lottery.