Meet the CUNA Presidents

By Eugene H. Johnson

For 70 years, each of the Credit Union National Association's (CUNA's) nine CEOs has been the right person for the times, beginning with Roy F. Bergengren.

Bergengren managed the Credit Union National Extension Bureau (CUNEB) from 1921 to 1934 and was 55 years old when CUNA directors named him their first managing director in 1935. The family-practice lawyer dabbled in Progressive politics. Thus, credit unions appeal to his humanitarian sprit, say authors Moody and Fite in "The Credit Union Movement."

Bergengren's organizational and legislative skills were crucial to the tasks of founding credit unions and organizing CUNA and several leagues. That's why Edward A. Filene hired him in 1921. While Filene is considered the benefactor (or father) of credit unions, Bergengren becomes the movement's architect.

CUNA also has had three acting CEOs: Evert S. Thomas, 1971; Russell C. Notar, 1978-1979; and Pete Crear, 1996. Crear currently is CUNA's executive vice president for external affairs.

Roy F. Bergengren, 1935-1945
1934: The Bridge newsletter, begun in 1924, becomes a trade magazine. "We are trying to bind the whole credit union movement together, to inspire it, to promote the best possible operating practices, to have a magazine rather than a house organ," says Bergengren.

• Passage of the Federal Credit Union Act opens chartering opportunities nationwide.
• Estes Park delegates write the CUNA constitution.

1935: CUNA charters CUNA Mutual.
1936: CUNA Supply Cooperative forms.
1940: CUNA, CUNA Mutual, and CUNA Supply employees affiliate with labor unions.
1941: Union labels appear on CUNA forms.

Thomas W. Doig, 1945-1955
Doig was a stenographer for the Minneapolis postmaster when he became treasurer of Minneapolis Postal Employees Credit Union. He was organizing credit unions in Minnesota in 1925 when he wrote to Bergengren, who hired him in 1930 to work for CUNEB.

Doig continued as an organizer and became assistant managing director when CUNA began in 1934. But by 1938, Doig chaffs under Bergengren's authority. Bergengren represents the pioneering stages of the movement. Doig is the young, vigorous representative of more recent developments. He was 49 when named managing director of CUNA, CUNA Supply, and CUNA Mutual.

1946: CUNA Washington, D.C., office opens with Hubert Rhodes at the helm.
1954: It's a record year for the number of credit unions organized: 2,107 (including Canadian charters, then members of CUNA). This follows losses during World War II.
1954: CUNA's field staff numbers 19, operating in 45 states, Hawaii, and in the Canadian provinces. CUNA sponsors nationwide radio advertising to promote organizing efforts.
1948: The first International Credit Union Day on Oct. 21 commemorates 100 years of credit unions, beginning in Germany.
1949: League managing directors organize the National Association of Managing Directors and meet prior to CUNA's annual meeting to present resolutions to the national board.
1950: President Harry S. Truman lays the cornerstone of Filene House May 14.
1952: CUNA Mutual coverage reaches the $1 billion mark.
1952-54: The Bridge reaches 33,000 in circulation and shows a slight positive margin.
1954: The CUNA School for Credit Union Personnel begins at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Herbert B. Yates, 1956-1957
H.B. Yates was 65 when he took on what was supposed to be a temporary job as "acting managing director." The job lasted almost two years. He was once a social studies teacher, and was a founder of Dallas Teachers Credit Union and the Texas Credit Union League, where he served seven years as president. Described as "tall, slim, and somber," Yates organized other credit unions, including Fort Worth (Texas) Teachers Credit Union. He was CUNA's elected president from 1953 to 1955.

1957: CUNA Mutual becomes a separate company. Charles F. Eikel Jr., who joined CUNA in 1938 as a field representative, is named CUNA Mutual's managing director. He leads the insurance company until 1973. By then, it's the 14th-largest insurance company in North America in terms of coverage in force.

Harlan Vance Austin, 1957-1962
H. Vance Austin was a "big, friendly lawyer from Colorado." He managed the Colorado Rural Electric Association and was somewhat of an outsider when named managing director of CUNA and CUNA Supply at age 47.

He was considered the right choice because he wasn't involved in the quarrels leading up to CUNA Mutual's departure from CUNA. However, Austin has been acquainted with credit unions since 1938. Austin served as the elected president of Sterling Community Credit Union for five years. He helped organize the University of Colorado Federal Credit Union in Boulder and he served on the Colorado Credit Union League board.

1958: CUNA's World Extension Department serves 52 nations on six continents and in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
1961: CUNA contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development for credit union organizational work. Nearly a tenth of CUNA's budget goes to world development.

• Everybody's Money, a credit union member magazine is launched. Today's successor is Home & Family Finance.
• Credit Union Executive Services (CUES) Program begins. It's the forerunner to the Credit Union Executives Society.

James Orrin Shipe, 1963-1970
Bergengren hired J. Orrin Shipe in 1939 as a field organizer. He later edited The Bridge, and in 1941 he led CUNA's education department. Credit unions were a hobby that became a profession, Shipe said. Shipe organized and served as treasurer of Buffalo (N.Y.) Insurance Employees Credit Union. He was a member of the New York Credit Union League board. He left CUNA to enlist in the U.S. Navy in 1945, returning in 1947.

Shipe rose through the ranks. In 1954, he headed a new CUNA advertising and promotion service department, and in 1956 was named assistant managing director. He was 51 years old when named CUNA's managing director.

1964: CUNA becomes CUNA International, reflecting its worldwide membership.

• CUNA appropriates $50,000 to organize credit unions for poverty-stricken neighborhoods in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York.

1966: The federal War on Poverty's Office of Economic Opportunity begins coordinating credit union development with CUNA.
1963: The Bridge becomes Credit Union Magazine to avoid confusion with bridge-building magazines.

• Shipe warns that the American Bankers Association is trying to obtain legislative restrictions on credit unions.

1966: CUNA forms ICU Services Corp. to help credit unions with new funds-transfer techniques.
1969: CUNA lobbies in favor of the Truth in Lending Act.
1970: The new World Council of Credit Unions means CUNA can resume being a national trade association.

• CUNA supports a bill creating the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), elevating the credit union regulator from bureau to agency status. Share insurance accompanies the legislation.

Herbert Gaird Wegner, 1971-1978
At age 41, Herb Wegner was just the sort of person modern credit union leaders were looking for. A former U.S. Navy pilot, Wegner flew his own airplane to the many credit union meetings he attended.

He had credit union credentials. His mother, Ethel S. Wegner, managed California State Employees Credit Union #9 in Berkeley. He was a special projects officer for the Peace Corps and worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Wegner directed the World Council's Latin American Regional Office in Panama City, Panama, when he was named CUNA managing director.

1973: CUNA Mutual pledges $447,000 for the first year of an Investment in Growth plan to grow credit union membership.

• CUNA Service Group forms as a holding company and incorporates CUNADATA, CUNA Supply, and ICU Services.
• The National Advertising Program features actor Chad Everett.

1974: CEOs of CUNA and CUNA Mutual are made ex-officio members of one another's boards as a gesture of rapprochement.

• ICU Services launches a share draft program.
• U.S. Central Credit Union is chartered.

1975: Wegner becomes vice chairman of Congress' National Commission on Electronic Fund Transfers.
1977: An omnibus banking bill contains what's deceptively called a "credit union mini-bill. " In truth, the bill provides major new powers:among them, 30-year mortgages and variable rates for shares and share certificates.

• CUNA National Directors raise dues from 10 cents to 13 cents per member.
• The old-world European title "CUNA managing director" changes to "CUNA president."
• ICU Services offers individual retirement account (IRA) services.
• ICU Services tests a Visa card program and creates Data Switch Corp. to route automated clearinghouse and automated teller machine (ATM) transactions.

1978: CUNA, CUNA Mutual, and ICU Services create CUNA Mortgage Corp.

James R. Williams, 1979-1987
Jim Williams was 44 when he became CUNA president. He represented a new breed of young professional credit union CEOs. He holds an MBA in management and finance.

Williams managed three credit unions in Texas including Government Employees Credit Union of San Antonio, which grew from $17 million to nearly $300 million in assets from 1968 to 1979. He chaired the Texas League and CUNA.

CUNA had 200 employees, and there were 22,272 credit unions when Williams arrived. His strong suit was management. He was hired to put CUNA back on sound financial footing and install professional management systems.

1978: Public Law 95-630 provides for a Central Liquidity Facility and a three-member board at NCUA.
1980: CUNA's Save Our Share Draft Campaign results in share draft authority for credit unions and NOW accounts for banks and savings and loan associations. The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act, signed by President Carter, also removes Regulation Q deposit rate controls and raises the loan ceiling to 15% for federal credit unions.

• Dedication of the Credit Union Center brings CUNA and CUNA Mutual back together on a single campus they share with the World Council of Credit Unions.
• CUNA Foundation begins. It's now called the National Credit Union Foundation.
• ICU Services Corp. introduces a debit card and offers an IRA administrative program.

1982: ICU Services Corp. adds an ATM program.

• CUNA and CUNA Service Group integrate management.

1983: National Credit Union Roundtable debuts.

• CUNA Brokerage Service begins operating.
• The Corporate Credit Union System becomes operational, enhancing automated settlement for credit union member transaction accounts.
• Congress agrees to drop a credit union income tax proposal if credit unions will capitalize the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF).

1984: Credit unions agree to capitalize NCUSIF by depositing 1% of their assets.

• Congress reforms the bankruptcy law, making it easier for debtors to reaffirm debts, a provision CUNA advocates.

1985: CUNA defeats proposals to tax credit unions with $5 million or more in assets and an amendment to tax credit unions with $50 million or more in assets.

• Leagues pledge $9.4 million to capitalize CUNA Service Group.
• CUNA hosts its first national convention and exposition in conjunction with the CUNA annual meeting.

Ralph S. Swoboda, 1987-1995
At 38 years of age, Ralph Swoboda became CUNA's youngest president. The attorney fought CUNA's court battles over share drafts in 1974 and was named a staff attorney to ICU Services in 1975. Moving through the ranks, he became CUNA's and CUNA Service Group's general counsel and then chief operating officer of CUNA Service Group in 1986. He emphasized unity and the cooperative philosophy in credit unions' battle with banks.

1988: CUNA defeats a proposal for credit unions to write down their 1% deposit in the NCUSIF as Congress deals with the S&L crisis.
1989: CUNA, CUNA Mutual, and the University of Wisconsin found the Filene Research Institute.

• A record 2,200 people attend CUNA's national convention.
• CUNA staff and volunteer training programs sell 50,000 self-study modules.
• Now referred to as CUNA & Affiliates, the trade association and its affiliates (not including U.S. Central) have 876 employees.
• CUNA Service Group Card Services completes phase one of its processing center, a 40,000-square-foot facility.
• Corporate Network Brokerage Services opens.

1991: CUNA's Operation Grassroots campaign brings nearly 15,000 supporters to a Capitol Mall rally. They block a plan to merge credit union and bank regulators in the wake of the S&L crisis. Another 370 hometown rallies occur in congressional districts.

• CUNA joins NCUA in defending AT&T Family Federal Credit Union against a field-of-membership lawsuit brought by the American Bankers Association and five North Carolina banks.
• CUNA launches News Now, a daily electronic newsletter.

1992: CUNA National Board raises dues from 13 cents per member to 11 cents per member and one cent per $1,000 of assets.
1993: CUNA National Board adopts a CUNA System Structure Planning Committee plan. The action reduces the 300+ member CUNA National Board to a 39-member board.
1994: Under pressure from Congress, NCUA orders U.S. Central Credit Union and corporate credit unions to separate from CUNA and from state leagues.

• CUNA-backed bankruptcy reform bill passes.

1995: CUNA Service Group completes a 90,000-foot addition to its cards processing center.

Daniel A. Mica, 1996-present
Dan Mica is 52 years of age and a five-term former congressman when he's named CUNA president. Mica will rely on his political skills to rescue the credit union franchise.

For six years, Mica was executive vice president of the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI), the life insurance industry's leading trade association. Similar in scope to CUNA, ACLI also battled the bankers.

Although Mica had no credit union experience, he possesses what credit unions require: personal contacts within Congress. He was named CUNA president June 6, 1996. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals on July 30 held that the 1934 Federal Credit Union Act doesn't permit multiple-group fields of membership, a policy NCUA permitted beginning in 1982. The battle is waged.

1996: CUNA forges a historic alliance with the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU). They agree to a single campaign fund and a single strategy: File a legal appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court while laying the groundwork for legislative action.

• Renewal Project reduces the CUNA Board from 39 to 24 members, with credit unions electing 18 members and leagues electing six.
• CUNA Service Group sells its cards processing center to Equifax.

1997: CUNA and NAFCU hire Hill & Knowlton to work on "The Credit Union Campaign for Consumer Choice," the campaign to save the multiple-group credit union charter.

• Reps. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., and Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, introduce the Credit Union Membership Access Act (H.R. 1151).

1998: On Feb. 25, the U.S. Supreme Court rules 5-4 against credit unions in the field-of-membership lawsuit.

• On April 1, the House passes H.R. 1151 by a 411-8 margin, following a narrow two-vote victory in the House Banking Committee.
• On April 30, the Senate Banking Committee passes H.R. 1151 after Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., breaks a tie over a killer amendment.
• On July 14, Credit unions bring 6,500 members to a Capitol Hill rally for H.R. 1151 on just one week's notice.
• On July 28, the Senate passes H.R. 1151 by a 92-6 vote.
• On Aug. 4, the House approves the Senate version.
• On Aug. 7, President Clinton signs the Credit Union Membership Access Act into law.
• On Dec. 17, NCUA releases final regulations ending a two-year membership expansion freeze. Credit union leaders call H.R. 1151 the greatest legislative victory since the Federal Credit Union Act passed in 1934.

1999: Credit unions approve a CUNA dues increase.

• CUNA begins the "Hike-the-Hill" legislative advocacy program.
• National Credit Union Brand Campaign proclaims "America's Credit Unions: where people are worth more than money."
• Project Differentiation displays the unique role credit unions play in society.

2000: CUNA breaks ground for Credit Union House, a Capitol Hill gathering place for credit union representatives visiting members of Congress.

• CUNA Strategic Services Inc. succeeds CUNA Service Group, which CUNA Mutual acquires as CUNA scales back business activities.
• CUNA's Web site surpasses NCUA's as the most widely read credit union site.

2001: Project Zip Code shows elected representatives how many credit union members reside in their districts.

2002: CUNA and the American Association of Credit Union Leagues create a Political and Legislative Action Network to promote credit union grassroots participation.

• With CUNA's backing, Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., and Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., introduce the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act.

2004: CUNA modernizes its hands-and-globe logo, discontinues the "CUNA & Affiliates" title, and returns to the original Credit Union National Association name.

• CUNA conducts a national live video alert via the Internet to inform credit unions of a coordinated banking attack on their federal tax-exempt status. Now it's the relentless bankers who form an alliance of their three leading bank trade groups in an attempt to defeat credit unions.