Inducted 2003
Herb Wegner was a cooperative pioneer. He devoted his entire career to advancing credit unions. As CEO of the Credit Union National Association in the 1970s, he inspired one of the greatest growth periods in U.S. credit union history. Many credit him with placing credit unions into America's mainstream -- and reaching millions more consumers worldwide with cooperative services.
Wegner was an effective leader. He spearheaded the successful legislative campaigns that ultimately enabled credit unions to provide credit cards, mortgages, and IRAs. Always an innovator, he was instrumental in creating new concepts for credit unions: share drafts, secondary mortgage corporations, and the corporate credit union network.
His efforts not only advanced credit unions, but also opened the entire U.S. financial industry to competition that would benefit cooperatives and consumers for decades to come. In fact, he helped create electronic funds transfers (EFT), a service that now drives America's transaction-based economy.
Wegner's legacy will be felt around the globe. Internationally, he created a confederation of financial cooperatives across Latin America, which later served as a model for cooperative development in Africa and Asia.