Ernie Passailaigue, a native of Charleston, S.C., is the Director of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, the 43rd state to legalize a lottery in 2009.

He graduated from Porter-Gaud School in 1965, then earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in accounting, from the University of South Carolina in 1969 and a Master’s in Business Administration from The Citadel in 1974.

Licensed as a certified public accountant in 1971, Passailaigue was an associate professor of business administration at Charleston Southern University from 1973 to 1988, while simultaneously serving as a managing partner of his own accounting firm in Charleston. He is the former owner of the Charleston Royals and Rainbows Professional Baseball Team.

In 1988 he was elected to South Carolina Senate and served for 13 years until August 2001, when he resigned to become Executive Director of the South Carolina Education Lottery.

Passailaigue is a past president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL), former Chairman of the Powerball Group and former Vice President of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL).

Other key staff:
David Barden, Vice President, Gaming Operations
Ernestine Middleton, Vice President, Administration
Julie Baldridge, Director, Public Affairs and Legislative Relations
Joanna Bunten, Director, Advertising and Marketing
Carolyn Cabell, Director, Product Development
Lance Huey, Director of Security
Philip Miley, Controller
Timothy Parrish, Treasurer
Mike Smith, Director, IT Gaming
Robert Stebbins, Director of Sales
Mary VanLeer, Director, IT Infrastructure
Bishop Woosley, Director, Procurement and Compliance

Established: 2009

Products Offered:
Instant games, Powerball, Mega Millions, Cash 3, Cash 4, Raffle Game 

Beneficiaries: Net proceeds fund scholarships and grants for Arkansas students enrolled in public and private nonprofit two-year and four-year colleges and universities within the state.

Board Members
Dianne Lamberth, Batesville, Chair
Derrick Smith, Little Rock, Vice Chair
Ben Pickard, Searcy, Secretary-Treasurer
John C Campbell, Hot Springs

George J. Hammons, Pine Bluff
Mike Malone, Fayetteville
Patty Shipp, Morrilton
Dr. Susan Ward-Jones, Marion
Joe White, Conway

Year established: 2009
First sales: September 28, 2009 
Total FY '10 Sales (9/28/09-06/30/10): $383.698,454
Total FY '10 Revenues to State (9/28/09-06/30/10): $82,659,437