Group elects new chairman

Friday, Dec. 20, 2002 | 11:20 a.m.

The National Center for Responsible Gaming has elected Dennis E. Eckart as its new chairman, replacing Maj. Gen. Paul A. Harvey (Ret.).

Eckart, a former six-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is president and chief executive of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association.

Eckart served as chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Antitrust, Deregulation and Ecology and was a member of the House Energy and Commerce and Education and Labor committees. Following his congressional career, Eckart was a partner with Baker & Hostetler LLP, a Cleveland-based law firm.

His election took place during the board's annual meeting in Las Vegas earlier this month, which was held at the conclusion of a three-day conference on gambling addiction co-sponsored by the NCRG.

Called "Rethinking Addiction," the third annual conference attracted a record number of more than 300 researchers, academics, public health experts and casino executives to explore new studies on problem gambling and other behavioral disorders.

Harvey, who has served as chairman since the organization was founded by casino interests in 1996, will remain on the NCRG board as an industry representative.