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Craig H. Neilsen
FOUNDER
Craig Neilsen founded Ameristar Casinos, Inc. and served as the Company's principal officer from its public inception in 1993 until his death in November 2006. Prior to that time, Craig led the privately held casino hotel organization, consisting of Cactus Petes Resort Casino and the Horseshu. These two original properties, with a nearly 50-year history, created the foundation for the current Ameristar business.
Under Craig's guidance, the Company grew to seven properties in Nevada, Mississippi, Iowa, Missouri and Colorado, and became recognized for its high quality products and diverse range of gaming, dining and entertainment options that provide a total entertainment experience.
Craig was an executive in gaming, real estate development and construction for more than 25 years. In 2002, he was honored as "Best Performing CEO" by the American Gaming Association, and in 2005, he was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame. In 2006, he was named Outstanding Business Leader by the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis. Craig served on the Board of the American Gaming Association.
His desire to help others living with a spinal cord injury led to his establishing The Craig H. Neilsen Foundationin 2003. The foundation continues today as his philanthropic legacy. |
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JOHN M. BOUSHY
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR
John Boushy is Chief Executive Officer and President of Ameristar Casinos. John joined the company as President in August 2006 and was appointed CEO and President in November 2006. He was elected to the company's Board of Directors in Dec. 2006.
John has had a long and distinguished career in the gaming industry. Prior to joining Ameristar, he served as a senior executive at Harrah's Entertainment, holding various executive positions within Harrah's and its prior parent companies, Holiday Corporation and The Promus Companies, since 1979. John most recently served as Harrah's Executive Vice President, Project Development, Design & Construction, where he led the D&C function company-wide and led the master planning for Atlantic City and Las Vegas, capitalizing on the adjacency of properties in both markets.
Prior to this, John held the position of Chief Integration Officer where he had executive level responsibility to plan and execute the business combination of Caesars Entertainment with Harrah's Entertainment. The integration of those two companies resulted in synergies of $118 million that far exceeded the first year's synergies of $80 million.
As SVP, Brand Operations (1999-2004), John established corporate operating functions (slots, hotel, food and beverage, and strategic sourcing) in order to deliver enhanced capabilities in these areas to various properties, enhancing delivery of service and competitiveness, while supporting the rapid growth through property expansions and company acquisitions. During this time, Harrah's acquired and successfully integrated 5 casino companies.
As Harrah's Chief Information Officer (1999-2003), John was credited for various technological advances that today power the company's customer service and financial performance. During his tenure as CIO, the company was recognized as one of the top 10 Best Places To Work in IT for several years in a row and Harrah's was honored with the distinguished CIO Enterprise Value Award in 2001.
As Vice President of Strategic Marketing for Harrah's (1989-1994), John developed numerous innovations, including 800-HARRAHS and the industry's first, nation-wide customer loyalty program. Under his leadership, the company issued the first annual survey of casino entertainment, which continues today as "The Profile of the American Casino Gambler."
John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and a Master of Science degree in Applied Mathematics, both from North Carolina State University. He has received numerous honors including top 100 marketing executives, top 100 strategists, and CIO magazine's "20/20 Vision" award, which recognized 20 people globally for their achievements in the application of information technology. He is the holder of numerous U.S. patents related to service, marketing and profit improvements in a casino environment. |
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Gordon R. Kanofsky
CO-CHAIRMAN AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Gordy Kanofsky has been Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameristar since November 2006 and has served as Executive Vice President of the Company since 2002. Gordy oversees corporate development, as well as governmental and legal affairs, and regulatory compliance. He joined the Company in 1999 as Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs after having served as Ameristar's outside general counsel since 1998 and its securities counsel since 1993.
Gordy was in private practice as a corporate and securities lawyer for approximately 20 years before joining Ameristar. He became a partner in Hughes Hubbard & Reed in 1989 and later became a shareholder in Sanders, Barnet, Goldman, Simons & Mosk.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Washington University in St. Louis, as well as a Juris Doctorate with honors from Duke University. He was also a member of the Duke Law Journal.
Gordy is a Co-Trustee and a member of the Board of Directors of The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, which is primarily dedicated to spinal cord injury research and treatment. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of the American Gaming Association and the Association's Task Force on Diversity. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. |
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Ray H. Neilsen
Co-Chairman, Senior Vice President
Ray Neilsen has been Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameristar since November 2006. Ray serves as corporate Senior Vice President, where he is involved in companywide operations and design direction. He also has an active leadership role in the overall strategic direction of the company. Further, he plays an integral part in shaping the company’s culture and evolving the legacy of Ameristar.
Affiliated with Ameristar since 1991, his career with the Company has also included management roles as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Ameristar Council Bluffs, followed by six years as General Manager of Ameristar Vicksburg. Previously, he held several management positions at Cactus Petes and provided managerial direction during the opening of Ameristar Vicksburg in 1994.
Ray serves as Co-Trustee and a member of the Board of Directors of The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, primarily dedicated to spinal cord injury research and treatment. He has been actively involved as an advisory board member of the Foundation since its inception. Ray is active on the board of Vicksburg Riverfest and as an advocate for Vicksburg's Riverfront Mural Project. He was voted "Man of the Year" by readers of The Vicksburg Post in 2004.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in History from the Albertson College of Idaho and a Masters in Business Administration from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. |
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Thomas M. Steinbauer
Senior Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Director
Tom Steinbauer joined Ameristar Casinos in
1991, as the organization was transitioning from a privately
held entity into a public corporation. As chief financial
officer, he oversees
corporate accounting functions and financial relations, as
well as financial executives at each property. He has also served on the company's Board of Directors since its inception in 1993.
Prior to joining Ameristar, Tom was Vice President
of Finance for the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas where he led the
Human Resources and Management Information Services
departments and worked closely with Security and Surveillance.
His 30-year career in the gaming industry also includes
executive posts with Bally's Reno and the Flamingo Hilton.
Educated at the University of Nebraska/Omaha, Tom holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration
with an emphasis in accounting. |
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Peter C. Walsh
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Peter Walsh joined Ameristar as Senior Vice
President and General Counsel in 2002. In that capacity, he
oversees the Company's legal affairs, regulatory and
compliance departments.
Peter previously served as Vice President and Assistant
General Counsel of MGM Mirage and as Assistant General Counsel
of Mirage Resorts, Inc. He was involved in almost every significant
financing and corporate transaction engaged in by Mirage
Resorts since the early 1980s. Prior to that, he was in
private legal practice in Los Angeles, most recently at Hughes
Hubbard & Reed.
Peter graduated summa cum laude from UCLA School of Law,
where he was a member of the UCLA Law Review and selected for
membership in the Order of the Coif. He earned an
undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University, also
with summa cum laude honors. |
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Larry A. Hodges
Director and Member of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Compensation Committee
Larry Hodges joined the Board of Directors in March 1994. He is Chair of the Compensation Committee and serves on the Audit Committee of the Board. A business leader with more than 35 years of experience in the retail food industry, Larry currently serves as Managing Director of RKG Osnos Partners, LLC, a privately held management firm. For nearly a decade, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Mrs. Fields Original Cookies, Inc. His prior executive management experience includes three years as President of Food Barn Stores, Inc. and two years as President of his own company, Branshan Inc., which provided management consulting services to food makers and retailers. Larry spent 25 years in executive management with American Stores Company, where he rose to the position of President of two substantial subsidiary corporations. His first management position was as Vice President of Marketing for Alpha Beta Co., a major operator of grocery stores in the West. Larry also serves as Chair of the Company's Compliance Committee, which oversees the Company's Gaming Compliance Program. |
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Leslie Nathanson Juris, PH.D.
Director and Member of the Compensation Committee
Leslie Nathanson Juris was elected as a director in May 2003. She is a member of the Compensation Committee of the Board. As President of Nathanson/Juris Consulting, she advises executives of publicly and privately held companies in a broad range of industries on issues of strategy, structure, succession, culture and practices to improve organizational performance. From 1994 to 1999, Leslie was Managing Partner of Roberts, Nathanson & Wolfson Consulting, Inc. (now known as RNW Consulting), a management consulting firm. She has more than 25 years of experience in the areas of implementing strategy and managing complex organizational change, and has founded two successful firms that consulted in these areas. She has also been a lecturer at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago for more than 20 years. Leslie holds a bachelor's degree from Tufts University, as well as a master's degree with emphasis in management and education and a doctorate degree specializing in organizational behavior, both from Northwestern University. |
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J. William Richardson
Director, Chair of the Audit Committee
Bill Richardson was elected as a director in July 2003. He serves as Chair of the Audit Committee of the Board. He has had a notable career of more than 35 years in the hotel industry. He was Chief Financial Officer of Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (IHR) from February 2004 until his retirement in April 2006. IHR is the nation's largest independent hotel management company, managing more than 300 hotels for third-party owners, including REITs, institutional real estate owners and privately held companies. He also held several executive finance positions with Interstate Hotels Corporation (a predecessor of IHR), most recently Vice Chairman/Chief Financial Officer. In 1981, Bill became Vice President and Corporate Controller of Interstate Hotels Corporation and then Partner and Vice President of Finance with the start-up hotelier Stormont Company in 1984, before re-joining Interstate Hotels in 1988. Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business/ Finance from the University of Kentucky. |
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Luther P. Cochrane
Director and Member of the Compensation and Audit Committees
Luther Cochrane became a director in January 2006. He is a member of the Compensation Committee and the Audit Committee of the Board. Luther has had a distinguished career of more than 30 years in the construction industry and the legal profession. He is currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BE&K Building Group, Inc., a diversified commercial, hospitality, healthcare, industrial and institutional construction firm, nationally recognized for its design-build expertise. He has held several other senior executive positions, including Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bovis Lend Lease, a global real estate group providing a full range of construction, development, capital structuring and consulting services. Bovis Lend Lease operates in more than 30 countries on six continents, and is one of the world's leading companies in the project management and construction services industry. Luther was formerly a senior partner with the Griffin, Cochrane and Marshall law firm in Atlanta, specializing in real estate and construction law. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and also holds a Juris Doctorate degree, with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill. |
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Carl Brooks
Director and Member of the Compensation Committee
Carl Brooks was elected to Ameristar's Board of Directors in October 2006. He is a member of the Compensation Committee of the Board. He currently serves as President and CEO of The Executive Leadership Council and The Executive Leadership Foundation in Washington, D.C., the nation's premier leadership organization of African-American senior executives in Fortune 500 companies. During a distinguished career of 25 years in the utility industry, Brooks served as Vice President, Human & Technical Resources of GPU Energy in Reading, Penn., one of the nation's largest publicly traded electric utilities, and as Chief Financial Officer of GENCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of GPU. Brooks is a Cum Laude graduate of Hampton Institute and holds an MBA from Southern Illinois University, with honors. He is a graduate of the Tuck Executive Program (President Program) at Dartmouth College.
Brooks serves on the DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Diversity Council. He is Vice-Chair of both the Board of Directors of Howard University's School of Business and Hampton University's Board of Advisors. He previously served on the GPU Energy/GENCO Board. In addition, he was Chairman of the GPU Diversity Action Council, winning the Edison Electric Institute Award for Diversity. Brooks is a member of the American Society of Association Executives, the National Black MBA Association and the National Urban League's Best Diversity Practices Study Advisory Council. He also served as the Honorary Chair of the 35th Anniversary of the School of Business, Howard University and was a 2004 recipient of the EEOC's Spirit of Partnership Award.
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