Dick Ensweiler, retired president/CEO of Cornerstone Credit Union League, has been named as a 2019 inductee to the Cooperative Hall of Fame.  

Ensweiler joined the Texas Credit Union League in 1995.  In 2013, as president/CEO of the Texas Credit Union League, he led an effort to merge the Texas league with the Credit Union Association of Oklahoma and the Arkansas Credit Union League, forming today’s Cornerstone Credit Union League. Ensweiler went on to serve as president and CEO of Cornerstone Credit Union League, Cornerstone Credit Union Foundation and Credit Union Resources for more than two decades. 

Throughout his career, Ensweiler was a driving force behind credit union advocacy. He led the effort to build Credit Union House, a facility cooperatively funded by each of the 38 state credit union leagues. Located in Washington D.C., Credit Union House is a critical hub for the industry’s advocacy work. 

He was also dedicated to extending the benefits of credit union membership to underserved markets. At Texas Credit Union League, Richard created Juntos Avanzamos (“Together We Advance”), an outreach program focused on serving Texas’ Hispanic population. The Richard L. Ensweiler Fund was established to preserve his vision, enabling credit unions to earmark funds for the program. In 1999, Ensweiler served as an adviser on Mexico’s President-Elect Vincente Fox’s transition team, working to ensure that the Mexican community in the U.S. could transfer funds back to their families through credit unions at substantial savings. 

Ensweiler also worked to broaden the scope of international credit union development. He spent time in Brazil studying credit union membership growth strategies, and, in 2008, received the World Council of Credit Unions’ Ambassador Award for his work to protect rural credit cooperatives in China. 

In 2015, Ensweiler received the World Council’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award. In 2017, he was inducted into the Cornerstone Credit Union League Hall of Fame. Also in 2017, the new America's Credit Union Museum Library was renamed the Richard L. "Dick" Ensweiler Research Library in his honor.