MADISON, Wis.-Former CUNA Mutual President/CEO Richard "Doc" Heins, who spent more than 50 years as an integral part of the cooperative movement, will be honored with a Herb Wegner Award for Lifetime Achievement this week.
"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," National CU Foundation Awards & Recognition Committee Chair Bob Schumacher said.
Heins entered the credit union industry in 1956 when he became a consultant at CUNA Mutual while also working as a business professor at the University of Wisconsin. He eventually was named to the top post at the insurer and is credited with a number of achievements, including creating a program that allowed credit unions to write loans for as little as 5% down, instituting the Marketplace Internship Program, and expanding the delivery of direct-response products such as life insurance. Heins also took great pride in how he helped changed the way CUNA Mutual determined insurance risks by applying age and health factors to risk ratings, the NCUF said.
"It had previously been CUNA Mutual's philosophy that, 'We treat all of our insured's the same and they all pay the same premium.' The problem with this philosophy was that they were, in truth, treating different people the same." Heins told Credit Union Journal. "Once these changes were implemented, CUNA Mutual's insurance volume grew substantially, credit unions' loan volumes increased, and credit union members were offered a fair premium based upon the risk they brought to the table."
Aside from his leadership at CUNA Mutual, Heins also contributed to the cooperative movement through his push to preserve NCUA and the NCUSIF, to rebuild credit unions in Poland after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and to help champion the creation of Filene Research Institute and, later, its i3 Group.
"Being a part of the creation of the Filene Research Institute was extremely memorable and I'm very proud of the work they have and are doing," Heins told Credit Union Journal.
Though no longer in the insurance business, Heins continues to take on new challenges, noting that he has "never retired and never will." Today he is the CEO at Integrated Separation Solutions, a firm that manufactures and fabricates equipment for the industrial water and wastewater sectors. He is also partner in an oil refinery project and serves on several volunteer boards, including the Wisconsin Rural Opportunities Board, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the UW School of Business and the Filene Research Council.
Creating a Better World
"I consider the activities, which I have followed in my life, to have helped to create a better world and, hence, a happier environment for our current friends and those emerging in the future. It was fun with honesty and no regrets," Heins said.
Though his contributions to the credit union movement were many, Heins gave great credit for the accomplishments over his half-century long career to friends and associates he worked with along the way, including Bob Hoel and Mark Meyer of the Filene Research Institute, as well as critical CUNA Mutual staffers such as Ted Wysocki.
"These folks engaged in a collective success for all of us in credit union land," he continued. "There are too many to list but be assured that list will be put together some day in the annals of credit union history and accomplishments."
