ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Stacey Allaster, the U.S. Open's first female tournament director, will step down from that post after the 2025 edition of the Grand Slam event and shift from her job as the U.S. Tennis Association's chief executive of professional tennis to an advisory role with the organization.
The USTA announced Allaster's job changes Wednesday and said she will help pick her successor as tournament director after the U.S. Open ends next September.
Allaster became the U.S. Open tournament director in 2020, the first woman to hold that position in the history of a tournament first held in 1881. She has worked at the USTA since 2016 and before that was the chairman and CEO of the WTA women's professional tennis tour.
USTA CEO and executive director Lew Sherr called Allaster “a tireless advocate for gender equality, leaving a legacy that will continue to inspire future generations in our sport.”
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FILE - Stacey Allaster, the U.S. Tennis Association's chief executive of professional tennis, poses during a qualifying round at the U.S Open in New York, Aug. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Noble Jr., File)
The first guest invited to ring the bell to open trading at the New York Stock Exchange in 1956 wasn’t a company executive, a politician or a celebrity. It was a 10-year-old boy, Leonard Ross, who received the honor by winning a television quiz show.
Since then, business titans, political giants and global film stars have all been among those ringing the opening bell at the NYSE. Ronald Reagan rang the bell as president in 1985. Billionaire businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr. have also rung the bell. The list even includes famous Muppets: Miss Piggy was once a bell ringer.
President-elect Donald Trump joined that list Thursday when he opened trading at the famous stock exchange on Wall Street. He was accompanied by his wife, Melania, who interestingly enough received the honor before her husband. As first lady, she rang the bell in 2019 as part of her “Be Best” program.
Bell-ringers are more commonly founders and executives chosen primarily from the exchange's more than 2,300 listed companies. Over the last few months, the guests have included executives from Alaska Air Group, Bath & Body Works, and Ally Financial.
Stock trading around the location of the NYSE's current home has deep roots that trace back to the Dutch founding of New Amsterdam and when Wall Street had an actual wall. The NYSE traces its direct roots to the “Buttonwood Agreement” signed in 1792, which set rules for stock trading and commissions.
The NYSE moved into its first permanent home in 1865. The first bell in use was actually a gong. The exchange moved into its current iconic building in 1903 and started using an electronically operated brass bell. That has evolved into synchronized bells in each of the NYSE’s four trading areas.
President-elect Donald Trump arrives to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - Then Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, center, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, participate in opening bell ceremonies of the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 9, 2011, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
FILE - New York Stock Exchange President Stacey Cunningham, right, and first lady Melania Trump, with the help of students from the United Nations International School, ring the opening bell of the NYSE in New York, Sept. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
