Winn, 46, has been with the company since 1988, holding jobs of increased responsibility in various areas of operations and human resources. She began her career as a training manager at Harrah's Las Vegas. She served as director of human resources for the Las Vegas property from 1990 to 1993 and then vice president of human resources for all of Harrah's Nevada from 1993 to 1995. She moved to operations in 1995, leading the slot function at Harrah's Las Vegas. Most recently she has served as senior vice president and general manager at Harrah's Shreveport.

"Marilyn brings a unique and highly valued combination of professional human resources experience and direct operations and property leadership experience to her new role," stated Phil Satre, chairman and chief executive officer of Harrah's. "As Harrah's continues to establish itself as a world class service and relationship company in the casino entertainment industry, human resource excellence will become an increasingly critical piece of our strategic focus. Marilyn will be a strong leader for our corporation in this area."

Winn will begin transitioning into her new position on April 26, and will assume full responsibility for the function by the end of May. During the transition she will work with her predecessor, Ben Peternell, who will be retiring form the corporation. Harrah's will immediately begin a review of candidates to succeed Winn in Shreveport.

Winn holds a Masters of Education and a BS degree in marketing, both from the University of Utah. Prior to joining Harrah's, Winn worked at the Utah State Board of Vocational Education and Weber State College, and in training and employment for department store retailers Denver Dry goods and Abraham Strauss.

Winn currently serves on the boards of directors of the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling, the Shreveport Regional Arts Council and the Betty and Leonard Phillips Deaf Action Center of Louisiana. Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. is the most recognized and respected name in the casino entertainment industry operating 18 casinos in the United States under the Harrah's, Showboat and Rio brand names, and the Star City casino in Sydney, Australia. Founded more than 60 years ago, Harrah's is focused on building loyalty and value with its targeted customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership.