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SLU Trustee Virginia McDowell Honored for Her Contributions to the Gaming Industry

05/25/2022

When SLU Trustee Virginia McDowell was promoted to the president and CEO of one of the nation’s top publicity-traded gaming operating companies, she was the only female gaming CEO in the country. What she wanted then, and is actively working for now, is to see more women promoted into leadership roles in what was a male dominated industry at the top.

Virginia McDowell (center) with other awardees at the 2022 Southern Gaming Summit in Biloxi, MS

Virginia McDowell (center) with other awardees at the 2022 Southern Gaming Summit in Biloxi, MS. Photo submitted.

To recognize her pioneering career and commitment to mentoring future female gaming leaders across the country, on May 5, McDowell was named as an Industry Influencer by the Mississippi Gaming and Hospitality Association and also became the first female to be inducted into the Mississippi Gaming Hall of Fame during the 2022 Southern Gaming Summit in Biloxi, MS.

“This is a tremendous honor, and even more so because I am the first female to be inducted in the Hall of Fame,” said McDowell. “My hope is that in the future many other female gaming leaders will join me there.”

McDowell was president and CEO of Isle of Capri Casinos, headquartered in St. Louis, from 2007 until her retirement in 2016. In 2009, she was named the “Gaming Executive of the Year” by Casino Journal Magazine. During her tenure, she co-founded Global Gaming Women (GGW) as a program of the American Gaming Association to promote women in the gaming industry.

“What we realized was that while 50% of jobs in the industry were filled by women, only a fraction of them were in management positions,” says McDowell. “We needed to create leadership mentoring and educational programs for females.”

In 2016, it was decided that GGW would be better off as an independent non-profit organization, and McDowell also led that transformation when she retired. What followed was an even larger array of mentoring support, including free educational courses featuring leadership development; public speaking classes; conflict resolution and many other programs under McDowell’s leadership.

GGW has now gone global and digital, with current female gaming leaders supporting the next generation, including the creation of “personal boards of directors” for those who want to move into the top levels of gaming management through Lean In Circles. The organization now has 21 board members from all areas of the gaming industry.

“We are so proud of all that Virginia has accomplished, especially being the first female inducted into the Mississippi Gaming Hall of Fame,” said University President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D. “And we are equally proud of all that she has done for so many women who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to reach their full potential as leaders. Her service as a trustee and chair of the Marketing and Branding Committee of the Board has been exemplary.”