DEARBORN, Mich. - Lots of credit union CEOs have taken a winding path to the top office, but J. Ronald Unger's may be the most circuitous yet. Not only had Unger never managed a financial institution before becoming CEO of $1.1-billion Dearborn FCU here, he'd never even worked at one. Unger arrived in the Dearborn FCU CEO's office in 1996 with an altogether different type of resume. Like some leaders of military credit unions, it included some officer's duties at an overseas army base. It also features nearly two decades in the Detroit auto industry and significant entrepreneurial success, founding a company that grew to generate some $20 million in annual sales. So why a credit union? "In all my other roles, I was always involved in the nitty-gritty, day-to-day operations," explains Unger. "I was a producer or manager, or both. But I never felt like I had the opportunity to be a leader. "This job is the opposite," he notes. "I know nothing about the nitty gritty. I don't even know how to run a transaction here. This was a chance to see if I could be successful in a different role with an entirely different type of responsibility." After five years at Dearborn FCU, Unger believes he's answered that question, with a credit union that has grown to more than $1 billion, with added services and a new data processing system installed earlier this month that will significantly streamline the credit union's operations and thus improve member service. Without it, he says, "We were slowly falling farther and farther behind." With it and other changes, "This is a far different credit union than it was five years ago," he says. So Unger will leave Dearborn FCU this August, with a replacement to be announced shortly (see related story on page 32.) At just 59, he's not retiring, but voluntarily moving on to a soon-to-be-defined new challenge. Because one thing you figure out about Ron Unger is that he appears to do everything with a beguiling mix of casual ease and extraordinary purpose. Unger seems to figure out where he wants to go-in his career, in his life-and then simply goes there. To Detroit and back, via Korea and Cambridge Unger was born in Cleveland, but grew up in Pittsburgh, where his father worked for the Aluminum Company of America. Dad was a chemical engineer, son Ron always liked math and science, so it seemed only natural that he would go to Penn State and pursue a degree in engineering. By 1963, Unger had an engineering degree and "an interest in cars," so he started making calls to Detroit. Chevrolet, Unger determined, offered the best training program; the automaker was apparently equally impressed with him. Soon Unger and his new wife, high-school sweetheart Judy, moved to Detroit, where he followed a two-year program that introduced him to many facets of the auto industry. That completed, Chevy offered him a spot as a development engineer working on cooling systems. Unger was nicely slotted in a career path when his draft number was called. It was 1966, and things were reaching a boiling point in Vietnam. With his engineering background, Unger applied for a direct commission and was sent to the ordinance corps in Maryland. He had also applied for officer's school, and while in the ordinance corps, the U.S. Army gave him his lieutenant's bars and transferred him to the officer's training program at the same base. His training completed, "I figured I was going back to Detroit, where the Army had a tank development facility," Unger reasons. "They sent me to Korea instead." Unger managed a maintenance facility north of Seoul, where he supervised more than 100 men who repaired everything from earth-moving equipment to rocket launchers. "It thrust me into a management position, and I thoroughly enjoyed it," says Unger. "It was the ideal assignment." It's not a comment you're likely to hear from many Vietnam veterans, but you begin to realize that Unger's good fortunes have a lot to do with his good attitude. "I think I have two traits that have served me well," he suggests. "I have a positive attitude, and I have the initiative to just go out and do things." Indeed. Before leaving Korea in 1969, Unger applied to, and was accepted by, the graduate business schools at the University of Michigan and Harvard. He said yes to Harvard, and then spent the next two months with Judy traveling all over Asia-Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Japan. His two years at Harvard, he says later, probably had the most profound impact on his young career. "The work ethic is incredible," he explains. "You quickly figure out you can't get everything done. So you learn to look at a situation, make a decision and move on. You don't second guess. What's past is past." Harvard MBA in hand, Unger turned back to the auto industry in 1971, this time accepting a job offer from Ford. But first, Unger made the most of another window of opportunity: Before settling in Detroit, he and Judy took off across the Atlantic. Along with a jaunt through Europe, they spent three weeks in the Soviet Union, which, in 1971, was an exotic locale indeed. A Career on Wheels Unger's career at Ford spanned the 1970s and early `80s. He moved up the management ranks and through various engineering roles in car product planning, the Dearborn engine plant, the advanced truck engineering area and more. "I did a lot of the early work on electronic engine controls, developing new ideas in enhancing things like fuel efficiency," he explains. "Ford was very good to me." But by the early `80s, the American auto industry was also in the throes of its competitive battles with Japanese manufacturers, and it was not a pretty time in Detroit. Unger decided it was time to do something else. "I figured I'd find something. I'd always told people, `If you don't like what you're doing, do something else.' So I followed my own advice." The something else Unger chose was to start his own company, along with another former co-worker at Ford. They founded Intelligent Controls, Inc., which manufactured electronic control systems for the auto industry. Unger handled the financial and administrative duties, while his partner took care of engineering and marketing. They owned the company 50-50 and enjoyed "an unbelievably good working relationship. We remain good friends to this day." Ford became a major customer, and the company grew at an astounding rate-from 15 people to more than 250 in just a few years. Annual sales leaped from zero to $20 million in a decade. "It wasn't a dot-com type of growth, but we were recognized twice by Inc Magazine on its list of the 500 fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S.," acknowledges Unger. "We were growing rapidly, but at a modulating pace-20, 30, 40 percent a year." Still, the growth took its toll. "It was a tremendous strain on my partner and me," Unger reveals. "Our resources were limited because we started with a very small investment. We obtained a lot of outside financing as we grew, but we were constantly walking a tightrope. It was just a very stressful situation when you're responsible for that many people." Somewhere along the way, the partners agreed on a figure for which they'd sell the company, "not really ever expecting to get that amount," says Unger. But the British company that made Cosworth engines-now called Vickers America Holdings-wanted a foot in the American market. The partners received their asking price in 1995. His Role at Dearborn FCU The same year, the president of Dearborn FCU-John Elkins-retired. Unger had joined the credit union in the early 1970s when it was largely an employee credit union of Ford. By the early `90s, he was a member of the Supervisory Committee, and moved up to the board in 1995. "I tried to introduce a lot of the ideas that worked for us at Intelligent Controls," Unger explains. He encouraged the use of technology, and was a big believer in individual computers, "so that everyone could do their own work," rather than bogging things down with lots of administrative layers. He also helped the credit union with its search process, employing a technique he had used at his firm. They developed a list of characteristics and credentials for the job, which included someone with CEO experience and expertise in technology, an identified weak spot in the credit union. Meanwhile, says Unger, the credit union was guided by a newly created an Office of the President, comprising three Dearborn FCU vice presidents. "None were interested in being president and there were no other obvious successors." Unless you count, as the board did, Ron Unger. "It honestly never crossed my mind that I'd be a candidate," Unger professes. "I hadn't been available (Unger was under contract to consult with his former company), but when that ended early, I guess the timing could not have been better. I pretty well fit the credentials, and really liked the people here." He accepted the job in 1995, with the understanding that it would not be a career-long commitment. After all, with the success of his (and Judy's) career, Unger is in the enviable position of having "no pressure to work or not work," he acknowledges. Besides, he pursues a roster of activities and interests that could easily fill a 48-hour day: he enjoys computers, woodworking and photography, the latter of which has now expanded to include editing digital video footage into documentaries. Then there's the cycling and travel. For the last 12 years, Unger has averaged almost 3,500 miles a year on his touring bicycle, including the 50-mile weekend rides he and Judy routinely log. Unger has pedaled from Cape Town to Durban in South Africa, and he and his older son (the Ungers have two grown sons) rode 1,200 miles from Hanoi to Saigon in Vietnam in 1998. "There were not many Americans and no diplomatic relations at the time," he says cheerily. "A bicycle is a fascinating way to see a country." He and Judy plan to cycle through China this summer. As for his post-auto, post-Dearborn career, Unger has been involved in some investments with a venture capital firm over the last year, he reports, and is looking at "offering his services in business development." Maybe he's just not saying, or maybe for the first time, Unger doesn't want to have a crystal clear picture of where he's going next. Maybe he just wants to dabble in his hobbies and spend time at his vacation home in northern Michigan. Maybe he's created and addressed enough challenges. "I'm not a political person, and I'm not a real hard-charging person," says Unger. "I've never wanted to be vice president of Ford Motor Company. "I hope none of this comes across as arrogance," he adds. "I think I'm just one of those very fortunate people who has gone through life able to capitalize on my strengths. Quite honestly, I don't think I could've planned a better career for myself." -
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