Hall of Fame
It's not uncommon for employees to spend their whole career in the credit union industry, impacting the credit unions, members and the movement in significant and meaningful ways. The Hall of Fame was created to honor those in the credit union movement who reflect a history of service to credit unions. Nominees are selected for their records of achievement within their own credit union and for achievements that have benefited many credit unions. Hall of Fame inductees have been key players in organizing and running credit unions and contributed to the movement on a local, regional, national and/or international level.
Eligibility
- The Hall of Fame nominee must be retired from a Cornerstone member credit union.
- Any Cornerstone member credit union or chapter may nominate individuals for this award.
- Nomination may be made without regard to credit union or chapter boundaries.
Who should be nominated for the Hall of Fame award?
The Awards and Recognition Committee will look for individuals who have demonstrated significant lifetime achievements and contributions to the credit union movement, dedication to and belief in the credit union system as evidenced by involvement at the local, regional, national or international level, and participation in other activities to further the organized movement.
Cornerstone may honor up to two individuals as long as the minimum scoring requirement is met.
Awards Criteria
For your convenience, you may review the awards criteria before proceeding through the nomination process.
The recipient will be recognized at IMPACT: Cornerstone Annual Meeting.
Nomination & Scoring Procedures
- The Cornerstone Awards and Recognition committee will review completed and submitted nominations forms received by the award deadline.
- Hall of Fame, Professional of the Year, Small CU Achiever’s and Volunteer of the Year nominees must receive at least 75% of the total points possible to be considered an award winner.
- For consistency and transparency, the awards committee will use a scoring system to assign point values to submissions.
- Nominations must be submitted through the online platform.
- NEW for the 2026 Awards Program: In lieu of a written submission, nominators have an option to upload a video submission. Take care to cover all the necessary information indicated in the awards criteria documents.
- You may nominate yourself or someone else.
2026 Awards Timeline
- October 2025: Awards open for nominations
- Feb. 6, 2026: Awards nomination deadline
- Feb. 10-Feb. 21, 2026: Awards committee reviews submissions
- Late February 2026: Award winners notified
- May 12-14, 2026: Cornerstone Award winners honored at IMPACT: Cornerstone Annual Meeting in Oklahoma City, OK.
Award FAQ
Eligibility for all awards (Hall of Fame, Professional of the Year, Small CU Achiever and Volunteer of the Year):
- You may nominate yourself or someone else for any award.
- Any Cornerstone member credit union or chapter may nominate individuals for any award.
- Nomination may be made without regard to credit union or chapter boundaries.
- The Hall of Fame nominee must be retired from a Cornerstone member credit union.
- The Professional of the Year nominee must be a paid credit union employee from a Cornerstone member credit union.
- The Small Credit Union Achiever’s nominee must be paid credit union employee from a Cornerstone member credit union with assets under $100M (per June 30 NCUA call reports of the preceding year.)
- The Volunteer of the Year nominee must be from a Cornerstone member credit union and an unpaid credit union volunteer.
Yes. A person can be NOMINATED (not win) for the same or different awards in consecutive years.
No. A credit union individual cannot be nominated for different awards in the same year. For example, a a credit union professional from a credit union $100M and under cannot be nominated for both the Professional of the Year and the Small CU Achiever’s Award. Or, a credit union professional cannot be nominated for a Young Professional of the Year, Small CU Achiever's and Professional of the Year.
If there is a submission from an award committee member’s credit union, that committee member must abstain from judging in that category. In addition, a committee member who is nominated for an award cannot judge in that category.
The Cornerstone Awards and Recognition committee reviews completed and submitted nominations forms received by the award deadline. Hall of Fame, Professional of the Year, Small CU Achiever’s and Volunteer of the Year nominees must receive at least 75% of the total points possible to be considered an award winner. For consistency and transparency, the awards committee will use a rubrik scoring system to assign point values to submissions.
If an award category receives a single nomination and that nominee does not reach the 75% total point value, no award will be given.
If an award category receives no nominees, no award will be given that year.
No. An individual cannot win the same award twice.
No. An award winner must wait five years to be nominated for another award category.
In the event of a tie, a special meeting will be called and the Awards & Recognition committee will discuss further and decide on one award winner per category.
2025 Winner
Robert "Bob" Taylor
Oklahoma Credit Union League
Oklahoma City, OK
2024 Winner
Gary D. Parker
1st University Credit Union
Waco, TX
2023 Winners
Don Mullins
Texas Trust Credit Union
Mansfield, TX
Dwayne Ashcraft
Arkansas Superior FCU
Warren, AR
Previous Winners
Questions?
If you have questions about this award, please contact Susan Dyer, VP, Communications.