Gov. Pritzker Announces Three Appointments to Boards and Authorities

Building on a strong team of diverse experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker announced the following appointments in his administration:

 
FINANCE AUTHORITY

 
Jennifer Watson will serve as a Member on the Illinois Finance Authority.* Watson currently serves as an Attorney for the Watson Law Office where she specializes in real estate, estate planning and criminal defense law. She previously served Macoupin County as the State's Attorney and prior to that as an Assistant State's Attorney. Watson is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Macoupin County Bar Association. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the Northern Illinois University College of Law and bachelor's from Millikin University.    

GAMING BOARD 
 

Marc Bell will serve as a Member on the Illinois Gaming Board.* Bell currently serves as a School Safety Officer for the Ball-Chatham School District. For nearly thirty years, Bell served the Illinois State Police first as a Trooper and went on to serve as a Special Agent, Sergeant and finally as a Master Sergeant. Throughout the course of his career with the Illinois State Police, Bell was an investigator for a wide variety of units, garnering experience in Medicaid fraud, abuse and neglect, statewide terrorism, domestic violence and environmental crimes. Bell is the President of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity in Springfield, a member of FOP Illinois Troopers Lodge 41, a member of the Association of Black Law Enforcement, and the Treasurer of the Land of Lincoln Chapter of NOBLE, Inc. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Chicago State University. 

 
MID-AMERICA INTERMODAL PORT DISTRICT BOARD
 

Cynthia Haliemun will serve as a Member on Mid-America Intermodal Port District Board.* Haliemun currently serves as the Dean of the School of Business at Quincy University, and she has been as Associate Professor with the program for over twenty years. Cynthia is the former Chair of the Quincy Tri-State Counselors to America's Small Businesses (SCORE) program, and she continues to serve the organization as a Mentor to SCORE Chapter 21. Haliemun is a member of the American Economic Association, the American Business Women's Association, and the Association for Integrity and Responsible Leadership in Economics and Associated Professions. Cynthia received her Doctorate in Economics from Southern Illinois University, her Master of Business Administration from Ohio University and her Bachelor of Arts from Upper Iowa University. 

 
* Appointments pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.