Inducted 2007
Charles Gill devoted his entire professional career to assisting cooperatives and improving the quality of life for those living in rural America. He served for 16 years as Governor and CEO of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), an organization he helped develop while working for the Rural Electrification Administration.
Gill's legacy includes launching a new era of financial flexibility for co-ops by introducing the long-term variable rate program, creating the Associate Loan Program to enable co-ops to get involved in new businesses to meet community needs, and creating the Cooperative System Integrity Fund to help cooperatives protect their service areas and address matters important to the long-term security of the entire electric cooperative network.
In addition, in a seven-year span he helped create the National Cooperative Services Corporation, the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, and the Rural Telephone Finance Cooperative. These organizations have had a dramatic impact on cooperative development and rural America.