Edgar F. Callahan

Inducted: 2000

Considered by many to have saved the U.S. credit union movement, Edgar Callahan has devoted 25 years to improving lives and preserving the cooperative alternative. He came to credit unions from the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions, where he pioneered insurance options for state-chartered credit unions, a model later adopted both nationally and internationally.He then served as chairman of the National Credit Union Administration, making three heroic decisions: to deregulate saving and loan rates, to allow a credit union to serve multiple ‘groups’ with a common bond, and to challenge credit unions to capitalize their own share insurance fund. Thus, many feel he single-handedly saved the U.S. credit union movement.

He later became CEO of Patelco Credit Union, where he has remained an innovative, effective, and dedicated leader. Callahan’s vision has always been one of ‘progress through cooperation.’ He believes that there are no limitations on what the cooperative movement can accomplish when its people work together for the good of all.