The African-American Credit Union Coalition has named HubertHoosman, president/CEO of Vantage Credit Union, as this year'sPete Crear Lifetime Achievement award recipient.

Hoosman was selected because of his commitment to the creditunion philosophy and dedication to moving the credit union worldforward at the local, regional, national and international levels,the AACUC said.

A native of East St. Louis, Ill., Hoosman graduated from highschool with a full basketball scholarship from the University ofMissouri-St. Louis.

He began his credit union career over 31 years ago as a tellerwith Educational Employees Credit Union, now Vantage CU, in Bridgeton, Mo., and moved through the ranks asloan department manager, branch manager, vice president ofoperations and executive vice president before becomingpresident/CEO.

When Hoosman started his career at the credit union in 1982, theasset size of the credit union was $34 million. During his tenure,Vantage CU's assets have now approached the $700 million mark.

A champion for causes, one of the most notable was when Hoosmantook the lead nationally with credit unions helping to recognizeDr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by raising approximately $1.4million for a national monument which now stands on the NationalMall in Washington.

Hoosman was recently honored with the Herb Wegner Individual Achievement Award by the National CreditUnion Foundation.

The award will be presented to Hoosman at a dinner on Aug. 2during the AACUC's 15th annual conference in Detroit.