John Veihmeyer Succeeds Diane Gulyas as Board Chair
Gemma Dryburgh, Mel Reid, Elizabeth Szokol, Kelly Tan Elected as Player Directors
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Jan. 4, 2023 – The LPGA announced today that Stephen C. Mills, former president and general manager of the New York Knicks, has been elected to the LPGA Board of Directors as an Independent Director for 2023. Retiring from the LPGA Board of Directors is Diane Gulyas, Chair and former senior executive for DuPont, LLC. John Veihmeyer, retired Chairman of KPMG International, replaces Gulyas as the new Board Chair.
In addition, Gemma Dryburgh, Mel Reid, Elizabeth Szokol and Kelly Tan have been elected to the LPGA Board as Player Directors, succeeding Lydia Ko, Amy Olson, Alena Sharp and Michelle Wie West, whose terms expired.
Mills served as general manager of the Knicks from 2013 to 2017 and was named president of the organization in August 2017. During his time as president and general manager, Mills oversaw player acquisitions and signings, management of the medical, training and development staff, creation of technology and analytics tools and the Knicks’ G-League basketball development team. Mills was a member of the NBA Board of Governors, Global Inclusion Council (Gender and Race Policies) and Business of Basketball committee.
Prior to becoming president of the New York Knicks franchise, Mills was president and chief operating officer of Madison Square Garden Sports. In this role, he was responsible for driving revenue generation, managing day-to-day operations and strategic business development, evaluating the performance of basketball and hockey operations, developing player personnel plans and overseeing the strategy of player salary caps in the NBA, NHL and WNBA.
Mills also spent 16 years with the NBA, acting as an account executive, vice president of special events and senior vice president of player and basketball development throughout his tenure. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Princeton University and was a member of the two-time Ivy League champion men’s basketball team. He is currently a member of the Princeton Varsity Club Board of Directors. Mills has served on the Board of Trustees for Ariel Investments since 2015 and became a member of the Madison Square Garden Sports Corporation Board of Directors in May 2020. He is also an independent director for the Selective Insurance Group’s Board of Directors, serving on both the Finance Committee and the Salary and Employee Benefits Committee.
“I am excited about the opportunity to join the Board. I’ve been a big fan of the LPGA for years and I am looking forward to becoming a part of the organization in this capacity,” said Mills. “During my National Basketball Association tenure, I spent many years focused on international events as a marketing vehicle to support and grow our global business and the individual brands of our players. I look foward to leveraging that experience to assist in the growth of the LPGA, with an exciting 2023 season on the horizon."
“I am thrilled that Steve has agreed to join the LPGA Board of Directors,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “We will lean heavily on his experience at the highest level of professional sports as well as his experience, expertise and passion in helping drive equity through sports. I’m confident his impact will be immediate.”
Gulyas, former president of DuPont Performance Polymers, served two full terms as a member of the LPGA Board of Directors, first joining the board in 2017, and was elected Board Chair in 2020. Gulyas was instrumental to the organization during the COVID-19 pandemic and played a large role in helping the LPGA Tour get back to play in late 2020. She also formed and led the search committee for current LPGA Commissioner Marcoux Samaan.
In Veihmeyer’s 40-year tenure with KPMG, he served as the U.S. Chairman and CEO, U.S. Deputy Chairman and managing partner of the Washington, D.C., office, before retiring as the Global Chairman of KPMG International in 2017. Veihmeyer was instrumental in creating the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, one of the five major championships contested on the LPGA Tour, and has been a member of the LPGA Board of Directors since 2020. In 2011, he received the CEO Leadership Award from Diversity Best Practices and was recognized as the 2013 Responsible CEO of the Year by Corporate Responsibility Magazine.
Veihmeyer is a University of Notre Dame graduate and is a member of the institution’s Board of Trustees. He currently serves on the board of the Ford Motor Company and was previously a member of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) Board of Trustees, the Business Roundtable, the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum, the British American Business International Advisory Board and the U.S.-India Business Council. Veihmeyer also served on the board of Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) and the Executive Committee of the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), and was a member of the board for Catalyst, a nonprofit focused on inclusion for women in the workplace.
“I believe the LPGA has an incredible opportunity to use its platform to empower and advance women and girls in so many ways, so I’m excited and honored to be asked to chair this talented board,” said Veihmeyer. “I also want to thank Diane Gulyas for her leadership of the board, as well as the outgoing Player Directors – Lydia Ko, Amy Olson, Alena Sharp, Michelle Wie West – for all their contributions over the past several years!”
Joining the LPGA Board as one of four new Player Directors, Dryburgh recently became the fourth Scottish player to win on the LPGA Tour with her victory at the 2022 TOTO Japan Classic in November. She has finished in the top 10 four additional times throughout her Tour tenure and is a three-time Rose Ladies Series champion.
Six-time Ladies European Tour winner Reid became an LPGA Tour Member in 2017 and has one win, the 2020 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, and six additional top-10 finishes to her credit. She’s a four-time member of the European Solheim Cup team and represented her native England at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Szokol first became an LPGA Tour Member in 2019 and has recorded five top-10 results in her four-year career, including a tie for second at the 2021 Dana Open presented by Marathon. She has won once as a professional, the 2018 IOA Invitational on the Epson Tour. Szokol played two years of collegiate golf at Northwestern University, where she was a 2014 Second Team All-Big Ten selection, and then transferred to the University of Virginia for her final two seasons, helping the Cavaliers to back-to-back ACC Championship victories.
Tan hails from Malaysia and finished in a tie for 13th at 2013 LPGA Q-Series to first earn LPGA Tour Membership for the 2014 season. She has three career top-10 finishes on her resume and has one professional victory that came at the Florida's Natural Charity Classic on the Epson Tour in 2019. Tan represented Malaysia at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing 51st and T34 respectively.
“The LPGA Board of Directors is crucial to the success of our organization, helping to set the vision and strategy to achieve maximum growth and impact,” said Marcoux Samaan. “The unique talent and business experience that each of our Independent Board Members brings to the table is invaluable, and the perspective our Player Directors provide ensures that we are supporting our athletes as they strive to reach peak performance and achieve their dreams.
“Diane Gulyas has provided invaluable support for me and our executive leadership team, and we thank her for her tremendous service. John Veihmeyer is a brilliant leader, visionary and mentor and I could not be more grateful that he has agreed to chair our board. We also thank our outgoing Player Directors – Lydia Ko, Amy Olson, Alena Sharp and Michelle Wie West – who have done a truly remarkable job managing through the challenging COVID-19 waters and helping us reach new heights. I know our new Player Directors will follow their lead and help drive us forward.”
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