Dick Heins Wins Wegner Award for Lifetime Achievement |
 MADISON, Wis. (9/11/09) — Innovative thinker… independent leader… tenacious motivator… life-long learner… and model credit union movement executive – these are lasting impressions of retired CUNA Mutual Group President & CEO Dick Heins, the 22nd Wegner Award honoree for Lifetime Achievement.
This will be one of four awards presented at the 22nd Annual Wegner Awards Dinner hosted by the National Credit Union Foundation on February 22, 2010. The gala dinner will take place at the spectacular Grand Hyatt Washington on the Monday night of the Credit Union National Association’s 2010 Governmental Affairs Conference. Online registration will begin November 16, 2009.
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Challenging Himself and Others | 
“Throughout his life, when teaching his students and challenging the credit union community, Dick Heins has pushed us all to see beyond what is there and explore new possibilities,” said NCUF Awards & Recognition Committee Chairman Bob Schumacher. “Dick is one of those unassuming gentleman who believes in ideas, then pushes himself and those around him to make the world a better place.” |
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Making a Lasting Impact | “The contributions he has made during his productive career and even after his retirement have had a lasting impact on today’s successful credit union movement,” said Eugene H. Farley, Jr., retired president of the Virginia Credit Union League.
Heins began his career with CUNA Mutual as a consultant in 1956, while a business professor at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Risk Management. It was the start of a relationship that has made a positive impact on the credit union movement in the U.S. and abroad for well over 50 years.
“Doc was always a creative thinker who probably had more good ideas before breakfast than many people have in a lifetime,” said former CUNA Mutual executive Tom Olson, now president of Directions21 Business Group. “He was dedicated to making these ideas happen for the benefit of credit unions and their members.” |
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 Heins turned his ideas into new programs to protect credit unions and their members. Among Heins’ many achievements during his decades at CUNA Mutual:
- Conceived and developed a program to enable credit unions to write loans for families paying as little as 5% down. Heins’ breakthrough risk management tool guaranteed lenders the other 15% in case of default. Today, Heins’ invention is known as Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. CUNA Mutual’s PMI brand – CUNA Mutual Group Mortgage Insurance Company – has weathered the economic storm of recent years far better than any other private mortgage insurer.
- Led the development of a brokerage of insurance products for CUNA Mutual and CUNA Mutual Insurance Society (CUMIS) that broadened the offerings of CUNA Mutual Group and increased collateral protections for credit unions and their members.
- Participated in the design and implementation of the original CUMIS Bond to replace the bond program of Employers Mutual. The CUMIS Bond eventually became the fidelity bond coverage for nearly 100% of U.S. credit unions and a model to adopt around the world.
- Led the development of CUNA Mutual Group’s broad expansion in delivery of direct response marketed products to credit union members. These products include life insurance, property & casualty insurance, and investment opportunities through joint ventures with large national providers including Capital Holding Group, Colonial Penn, and T. Rowe Price.
- Initiated a Marketplace Internship Program to give CUNA Mutual management employees experience working in credit unions.
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Confronting Credit Union Challenges |  Heins recognized that as a cooperative insurance provider for credit unions and their members, CUNA Mutual must be actively involved in dealing with challenges and opportunities facing the entire credit union movement. Practicing cooperative principles including concern for community and member education, Heins helped change credit union history:
- Preserving the Independent Regulator – When legislative proposals threatened credit unions’ independent regulator, Heins provided critically important financial support that made possible the Operation Grassroots Campaign. Organized by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and all 50 state credit union leagues, the year-long campaign culminated in more than 15,000 credit union supporters rallying in front of the U.S. Capitol to support preservation of an independent National Credit Union Administration. Had Operation Grassroots not succeeded, losing the independent regulator would likely have led to a merger of the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund into the now-defunct Savings Association Insurance Fund.
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- Advancing Philanthropy – Heins recognized the need for the U.S. credit union movement to benefit from a philanthropic entity. He was instrumental in creating the National Credit Union Foundation. Today, NCUF is the credit union movement’s largest national foundation, providing over $6 million worth of strategic programs, grants, and fundraising benefiting more than 20 million credit union members.
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- Promoting Education – Heins also recognized the importance of two educational initiatives that still exist today. He was a strong supporter of NCUF’s Credit Union Development Education program as well as the National Youth Involvement Board. He promoted these two programs because he believed in educating future leaders on credit union philosophy and pooling credit unions’ resources to improve financial literacy of our nation’s youth.
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- Providing Thought Leadership – Heins inspired the creation of the credit union movement’s think tank: the Filene Research Institute. Fifteen years later, Heins was the catalyst behind the creation of Filene’s i3 Group, which works to move Ideas into Innovation and Implementation. Filene Executive Director Mark Meyer said i3 was launched after a Filene staff member became inspired by a casual comment Heins made over lunch. The result has brought innovation to the forefront as a competency for credit unions to develop. Heins continues to serve on Filene’s Administrative Board as Director Emeritus.
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| - Strengthening Unity – Under Heins’ leadership, CUNA Mutual Group “forged a lasting partnership with the state credit union leagues around the country that continues to reap benefits for credit unions and their members today,” observed Susan Newton, executive director of the American Association of Credit Union Leagues. Heins was first to appoint a League Research & Advisory Committee for the primary purpose of building and maintaining strong relationships between CUNA Mutual and the leagues. Twice a year, the committee held strategic discussions on credit union issues. Heins used this committee as a sounding board for new ideas and initiatives. “One of the most valuable experiences I had in 40 years of working with credit unions was the opportunity to sit in meetings with Doc Heins at the front of the room with three or four flipcharts and a marking pen,” recalled Farley. “He had a way of making you think about challenges and opportunities and the future in a way that no one else did.”
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 - Rebuilding Credit Unions – After decades of Communist suppression of the credit union movement in Poland, Heins became deeply involved in supporting the redevelopment of Polish credit unions. He personally donated $40,000 to the Polish credit union community, and worked directly with President Lech Walesa (photographed together) and the new Solidarity-led coalition government to establish a sound framework for Polish credit unions to thrive again.
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Practicing What He Preaches |  Heins still practices what he preached to his students and CUNA Mutual employees. He personally endowed the University of Wisconsin’s Richard Heins Chair of Risk Management. And he personally endowed the Eugene Farley League Leadership Award, which is presented annually during CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference. Historically, the recipients of this recognition have been so appreciative of Heins’ generosity that, to this day, none have elected to accept the Farley Award’s monetary prize. All have immediately donated it to NCUF and/or their state credit union foundation.
This year Heins contributed another $50,000 to keep the Farley Awards program alive for another 20 years.
“Doc Heins supplied the credit union movement in the U.S. with several decades of the rarest kind of leadership,” concluded Georgia Credit Union Affiliates President & CEO Mike Mercer. “His leadership is the kind that motivates others to improve their own leadership effectiveness… the kind that motivates leaders to set aside personal fulfillment for the well-being of a greater cause.” (Photographed with Ruth.) |
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About the Wegner Awards: |  The awards are named in honor of the late Credit Union National Association CEO Herb Wegner, whose tireless dedication, innovative ideas and deeds truly revolutionized the ways that credit unions serve their communities. The awards that bear Wegner’s name recognize his spirit of “innovative, creative, risk-taking” leadership. |
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 NCUF is funded primarily by investments in the award-winning Community Investment Fund (CIF) and by Supporters led by the Credit Union National Association, CUNA Mutual Group, the Corporate Credit Union Network, Harland Clarke, WesCorp, CO-OP Financial Services, Card Services for Credit Unions, Fidelity National Information Services, and Visa. All NCUF donors provide support that empowers NCUF and state credit union foundations to make a real impact in the credit union community. |
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