WASHINGTON—The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) today announced Glenn C. Christenson, managing director of the investment firm Velstand Investments, LLC, has been named the new chairman of the organization’s board of directors. Christenson, who has served on the board since 2001, replaces Phil Satre. Satre, the former chairman and CEO of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., has served as chairman of the board of directors for three years and will remain on the board as a director.
“Not only has Glenn had a long tenure with the NCRG board and a history of significant involvement with the issues of problem gambling and responsible gaming, he also has a personal commitment to these issues that is truly invaluable,” Satre said. “As a former gaming industry executive, I remain quite passionate about making sure our industry continues to address these issues, and I look forward to continuing to work with Glenn and the rest of the NCRG board to do just that.”
“Phil is both a personal friend and someone I admire greatly. He always has been a leader on these issues, and he has done a marvelous job as chairman of the NCRG for the past several years,” Christenson said. “I am pleased the NCRG board has put their confidence in me to follow him in this capacity.”
Christenson currently serves as chairman of the Governor’s Problem Gambling Advisory Committee in Nevada and prior to that was a board member of the Problem Gambling Center, a nonprofit organization in Las Vegas offering treatment for individuals with gambling problems. Until April 2007, Christenson served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) of Station Casinos, Inc. for 17 years, where he was active in responsible gaming initiatives. Prior to joining Station Casinos, Christenson spent 17 years with the international accounting firm of Deloitte Haskins & Sells (now Deloitte & Touche).
“I am very pleased with the work the NCRG has accomplished to date – both as a source of funding for top-notch, peer-reviewed research on problem gambling, as well as a resource for the wide variety of stakeholders in problem gambling and responsible gaming issues. There is still much work to be done, and I look forward to working with our board to address these important issues,” Christenson said. “The NCRG will continue to fund the very best research proposals in this field and use the results of that research to develop practical applications to help problem gamblers. This research will assist gaming companies, treatment providers and regulators to make a real impact on problem gambling.”
In addition to his involvement in the gaming sector, Christenson currently is a member of the board of directors of NV Energy, Inc., where he serves as chairman of the audit committee, and of The First American Corporation, a Fortune 500 company. He also is treasurer, secretary and a member of the board of trustees of the Nevada Development Authority; chairman of the Nevada State College Foundation; and advisor to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Business School.
In 2001, he was named to the Nevada Society of Certified Public Accountants’ Hall of Fame for Business and Industry, and the following year was named one of the Most Influential Businessmen in Southern Nevada by In Business magazine. He has consistently been recognized by Institutional Investor magazine, and was named as the Top CFO in the Gaming and Lodging Industry in 2006 and 2007.
The NCRG board of directors includes representatives from the gaming industry and the treatment and regulatory communities. In addition to Christenson and Satre, the board includes NCRG President William S. Boyd, chairman and CEO of Boyd Gaming Corporation; NCRG Treasurer and Secretary Judy L. Patterson, senior vice president and executive director of the American Gaming Association; Robert Boswell, senior vice president of Pioneer Behavioral Health; Sue Cox, founding executive director of the Texas Council on Problem and Compulsive Gambling; Alan Feldman, senior vice president of public affairs for MGM MIRAGE; Kevin Mullally, general counsel and director of government affairs for Gaming Laboratories International; and Jennifer Shatley, vice president of responsible gaming policies and compliance for Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
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The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) is the only national organization exclusively devoted to funding research that helps increase understanding of pathological and youth gambling and find effective methods of treatment for the disorder. Founded in 1996 as a 501(c)3 charitable organization, the NCRG is the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) affiliated charity. For more information, visit www.ncrg.org. NCRG funds provide grants to researchers to increase understanding of pathological gambling and find effective methods of treatment for the disorder. The funds are distributed through the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders, a program of the Division on Addictions at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information, visitwww.divisiononaddictions.org/institute.
