WASHINGTON – The White House announced yesterday it is reaching into the past for its next NCUA Chairman and will nominate to the post Democrat Deborah Matz, who served on the three-member panel from 2002 to 2005.
Matz, who served as interim president of Andrews FCU in Suitland, Md., until last June, and as executive vice president there before that, would succeed Republican Michael Fryzel, who has served in the post only since last August. Fryzel, who has led the corporate credit union bailout, would remain on the Board, but not as chairman.
Matz was well-liked at NCUA and among credit unions and was best known for her work with the underserved. "I think she's a great pick," Geoff Bacino, who served on the NCUA Board before Matz and knows her, told The Credit Union Journal last night. "She's got experience, she knowns the agency, and she can hit the ground running."
Before going to NCUA, Matz was a senior executive at the Department of Agriculture, and was an economist with the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, where she advised members of Congress on policy issues.
Matz was one of several former NCUA Board members seeking the chairman’s slot, including Bacino, David Chatfield and Yolanda Wheat.
Her nomination, which carries a six-year term, must now be approved by the Senate.
If confirmed by the Senate she would serve in the slot being vacated by Republican Rodney Hood, giving Democrats two of the three seats on the Board.
