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During its 77th Annual Convention, ICUL inducted a revered colleague and old friend into the Illinois Credit Union Hall of Fame -- Richard Ensweiler, CEO of the Texas Credit Union League.
Introduced in 1996, The Hall of Fame awards recognize individuals for lifetime achievements and leadership on behalf of the Illinois credit union movement. This year, Ensweiler was the only individual honored with a leadership award.
 Ensweiler has been involved with credit unions his entire adult life. He began his career as a credit union teller. Following graduation from college he quickly progressed to manager roles, including a manager trainee position at State Central Credit Union and then manager at Harley-Davidson Credit Union, both in Wisconsin.
Ensweiler moved from credit unions to the League environment when he was hired as a field consultant at the Michigan League. He then moved to the Minnesota League as CEO.
In 1974 he was hired as the Illinois Credit Union League’s president. In this capacity, Ensweiler led the board in its first ever-strategic planning sessions. He expanded the services of the League Service Corporation, started its collection agency and a marketing service.
He also hired the League’s first lobbyist, spearheaded the formation of CUPAC and the ICU Foundation and presided over a major rewrite of the Illinois Credit Union Act. Ensweiler was responsible for formalizing operations for Legal & Technical Services and Human Resources.
He also brought the principles of Management by Objective to the League, which increased staff accountability, personnel development, education and training programs and long range planning. During his tenure, Ensweiler was also responsible for the formation of Mid-States Corporate Federal Credit Union, (now Members United Corporate FCU) where he was a charter member in 1976.
In addition to serving as President of Mid-States Corporate Federal Credit Union, he also served as Chairman of U.S. Central Credit Union from 1982-1984.
Ensweiler changed the way the League operated, created new and exciting programs, added professional staff and ramped up services. His decision to hire the first general counsel for the League also led to the appointment of its next CEO, Dan Plauda.
His dynamic personality and personal involvement with the Illinois credit union movement, League staff and board members, legislators and the national scene can be credited with bringing the League into the modern era of the credit union movement.
Ensweiler was CEO of the Illinois League until 1984 when he left to become a senior vice president at CUNA Mutual. In 1995, he left CUNA Mutual to become CEO of the Texas Credit Union League. He is still acting in that capacity and is a CUNA board member. He also led CUNA as its Chair for two years and served as chairman of the Association of Credit Union League Executives.
“Dick has truly demonstrated the ‘People Helping People’ philosophy in a multitude of ways, and for this and many other reasons, it gives us great pleasure to induct Dick Ensweiler into the Illinois Credit Union Hall of Fame,” said Dan Plauda, ICUL President/Chief Executive Officer.
“I humbly accept this award, but honestly it would not have been possible without a supportive staff and board that wanted to enthusiastically serve its membership,” Ensweiler commented upon receiving the award.
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