Rauner makes State Lottery, TRS Board appointments

Both appointees have experience in their respective agencies

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner today appointed Harold Mays to the position of interim acting director of the Illinois State Lottery. He also appointed Matthew Hower to his first full, four-year term on the Teacher Retirement System Board of Trustees.

Both appointees have experience with their respective agencies. A Chicago native, Mays has been the Lottery’s chief of operations and technology since January 2013. He earned an electrical engineering degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1989. His career spans the areas of engineering, technology and operations, and he is a recent recipient of the Powers Award for Performance Excellence by the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.

“It’s my pleasure to appoint Harold Mays as interim acting director for the Lottery,” Rauner said. “He has successfully led the agency’s daily operations for five years, and before that served taxpayers extremely well as a program management office executive for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services.”

“I am humbled and honored,” Mays said. “I look forward to working with Lottery staff in my new role with the same respect and admiration for their hard work as I have in the past.”

Hower first was appointed to the 13-member TRS Board in May 2017 to fulfill an unexpired term.

The TRS Board is responsible for administering one of the largest teacher retirement systems in the country, with more than 370,000 active members, annuitants and benefit recipients. Hower’s new term runs through July 2022.

Hower, of Barrington Hills, is a small business investor and retired manufacturing executive who also recently was appointed to the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District Board of Trustees. The 61-year-old co-chaired the Illinois Financial Reporting Standards Board from 2015 to 2016. He has a lengthy record of public service and has played key financial strategy roles for corporate and nonprofit entities, including Holy Family Catholic Community Parish and Academy in Inverness and St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights.

“Matthew’s extensive background in enterprise resource planning, financial reporting and successful investment strategies makes him a perfect choice to help the Teacher Retirement System to best represent its constituents’ interests as well as those of the state,” Rauner said. “He has done a fine job during his first year on the TRS Board and I am pleased to appoint him to his first full term.”