The Roy Cockrum Foundation has announced the appointment of Carol Lanoux Lee to be its executive director. Lee will succeed founding executive director Benita Hofstetter Koman.

“It was a real challenge replacing our co-founder,” said Roy Cockrum, the foundation’s founder and namesake, in a statement. “The Roy Cockrum Foundation would not exist without Benita. I wondered if we could ever find a replacement for her, but we got lucky. Ms. Lee brings a vast portfolio of arts-granting experience, is very familiar with not-for-profit professional theatres across the country and shares our passion for the Foundation’s mission. I am thrilled at the prospect of working closely with her after Benita retires.”

Lee has worked as a program specialist in the theatre and music theatre division of the National Endowment of the Arts since 2000. Lee and Koman will overlap in their role at Cockrum for five months, beginning in September, until the latter’s retirement.

“It is a tremendous privilege to join the Roy Cockrum Foundation and to become part of its great work,” said Lee in a statement. “Since the foundation’s inception, I have continually been inspired by its clear and singular mission of fostering extraordinary theatre on stages around the country. I look forward to collaborating with the board of directors to continue the foundation’s profound impact on the not-for-profit professional theatre field.”

The Roy Cockrum Foundation was founded in 2014 with earnings from Cockrum’s winning Powerball lottery jackpot. The foundation’s mission is to award grants to performing arts projects at leading nonprofit theatres across America.