PRESS RELEASE

HARRISBURG: Judge Mary DiGiacomo Colins has assumed Chairmanship of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board as only the second person and first female to hold that position.  She succeeds outgoing Chairman Thomas “Tad” Decker.

Judge Colins has served on the Board as an appointee by Governor Edward G. Rendell since its inception in 2004, was reappointed to a second three-year term, and named by the Governor last week to take over this top post.

“This is both an honor and a privilege for me,” said Colins. “Supported by a strong team of Gaming Control Board Commissioners and staff, I am looking forward to leading the next stage of our work: creating truly first class gaming destinations in Pennsylvania, maintaining a high degree of integrity within the industry, and producing the level of tax revenues anticipated by the Legislature upon passage of the Gaming Act.”

Colins was elected to the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County in 1990 and won retention in 2000. Before becoming a judge, she served as Assistant Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. She was hired as an Assistant District Attorney by then-District Attorney Rendell in 1985. She also served as in-house Associate Labor Counsel to CertainTeed Corp. and was a hearing examiner for the Federal Employee Appeals Authority. She received her BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970, an MA in English from Villanova University in 1973, her J.D. from Temple University School of Law in 1974 and a Master’s in Labor Laws from Temple University School of Law in 1980. She was appointed to the Gaming Board by Governor Rendell for a one-year term in 2004. She was re-appointed to a three-year term in 2005.

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