Susan Lanigan has over thirty years of professional experience as a senior executive of three publicly traded retail companies, as a current member of the boards of directors of two publicly traded companies, and as a former member of the board of a private employee-stock-ownership-plan-owned consumer products company.

Since June 2016, Lanigan has served on the board of Kirkland’s Inc., a retailer of home decor, including furniture, accessories, and gifts. She is chair of the compensation committee and a member of the nominating and governance committee. She has served since 2017 on the board of Simmons First National Corp., a financial holding company with over $20 billion in assets offering services through locations in seven states. She is chair of the nominating and governance committee and a member of the executive, compensation, risk, and compliance committees. She served on the board of Vi-Jon Inc. from January 2020 through December 2022. Vi-Jon is an employee-owned private-label product manufacturer in the health and beauty industry. She was chair of the nominating and governance committee and a member of the compensation committee.

In 2014, Lanigan was appointed by the governor of Tennessee to the Tennessee Education Lottery Commission. She became chair of the commission in 2015. The Tennessee lottery is a multi-billion-dollar education lottery corporation. She retired from this position in May 2021.

Lanigan retired in 2018 as executive vice president and general counsel of Chico’s FAS Inc., a temporary position she assumed in 2016 to assist in a proxy contest. Before that, she was executive vice president and general counsel of Dollar General Corp. She retired from Dollar General in 2013, after 11 years with the company. During her retail career, Lanigan managed significant stock and asset acquisitions, a leveraged buyout, and subsequent public offerings. She also successfully defended a proxy challenge and managed a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation and settlement. She was responsible for day-to-day SEC, legal, and board compliance. Prior to joining Dollar General, Lanigan served as senior vice president and general counsel of Zale Corp.

Lanigan started her career as a litigation attorney for Troutman Sanders LLP in Atlanta, Georgia.

She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law and cum laude from University of Georgia.