Former Senator and NCUA Board Chairman Roger Jepsen passed away Friday at the age of 91. A Republican, he served as Senator from Iowa from 1979 to 1985 and was later named NCUA Chairman by President Ronald Reagan, where he served from 1985 to 1993.

“Roger Jepsen leaves behind a tremendous legacy, both to my home state of Iowa and to the credit union system. His family and friends are in our thoughts and prayers,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle.

Jepsen oversaw NCUA’s adoption of the CAMEL rating system. He also chaired the agency when it was sued by the American Bankers Association and several banks over a field-of-membership expansion, a lawsuit that resulted in a Supreme Court ruling in favor of banks and later the enactment of the Credit Union Membership Access Act, signed into law in 1998 by President Bill Clinton.

NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood issued a statement Tuesday, remembering that Jepsen, "led the agency during a period of great change, overseeing more than 14,000 credit unions nationwide, the conversion of more than 400 state-chartered credit unions to federal insurance coverage and the adoption by the agency of the CAMEL rating system."

While in Congress, Jepsen led the Joint Economic Committee of Congress and served on the Armed Services and Agriculture committees. Previously, he served as lieutenant governor of Iowa from 1969 to 1973.