PGCB�s Director of Licensing Named Executive Secretary of International Gaming Association

HARRISBURG: Susan Hensel, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s Director of Licensing, has been appointed Executive Secretary of the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). The two-year appointment was made by IAGR Chair Dennis Neilander, the current Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Hensel replaces Alicia Gibson of South Africa.

Neilander stated that he wished to thank Susan for accepting the position as Executive Secretary and the state of Pennsylvania for allowing her to fill this important and demanding position.

“The IAGR is truly a global organization that provides an invaluable opportunity for regulators to share best practices,” Neilander said. “The Executive Secretary is a critical cog in the function of the Steering Committee that facilitates the IAGR activities on behalf of its members.”

Begun in the 1980’s IAGR was formed to advance the effectiveness and efficiency of gaming regulation throughout the world.

Toward that mission, IAGR provides a forum in which gaming regulators in the United States and in other countries can meet, exchange views and information, and discuss policy issues. In addition, IAGR creates a means of fostering cooperation between gaming regulators in the performance of their official duties and is a central point of contact for inquiries from governments, gaming regulatory agencies and personnel, and representatives of the international gaming industry.

Hensel, who was one of the first employees of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and was named to head the Bureau of Licensing in November 2005, sees this as a tremendous opportunity to both contribute successful gaming regulatory ideas used in Pennsylvania to other jurisdictions throughout the world and to identify best practices from the other jurisdictions to put to use in Pennsylvania.

“It is truly a great honor to serve in this position, especially since I am with one of the world’s newest gaming jurisdictions,” Hensel says. “The opportunities to exchange ideas with fellow regulators will provide me with unique insights and ideas that will help improve Pennsylvania’s already tough gaming regulatory atmosphere.”

Hensel is also a member of the IAGR Steering Committee which is made up of twelve regulators from throughout the world, including Australia, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States.

Before joining the Gaming Board, Hensel worked on gaming implementation issues as a Special Assistant to then-Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue Gregory C. Fajt. Before joining the Revenue Department, Hensel was an Assistant General Counsel in the Governor's Office of General Counsel; a Staff Attorney at the state Office of Inspector General; and Executive Assistant to the Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor & Industry. She was also a general assignment reporter at WHP-TV in Harrisburg and a news producer at WISN in Milwaukee. Hensel earned her J.D. degree from Widener University Law School in Harrisburg, where she graduated cum laude from the evening division and was on the staff of the Law Review. She earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, visit its web site at www.pgcb.state.pa.us.