(LANSING) - At the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS) annual meeting, Division of Financial Institutions Acting Chief Deputy Commissioner Gary Mielock was presented with the Pierre Jay Award. The Pierre Jay Award was created in 1997 by the NASCUS Board of Directors as an award for those whose contributions benefit NASCUS and the state credit union system in a profound way. NASCUS chose Mielock for this award due to his reputation as an even-handed regulator who assures that his institutions deserve the trust of their members.

Mielock was further recognized as an aggressive state regulator who has built active partnerships with Michigan credit unions and the credit union community. Mielock's contributions to NASCUS include leadership in tenth amendment advocacy and defending the right of state legislatures to make state credit unions different from federal credit unions.

The NASCUS Board named this award after the first Commissioner of Banks in Massachusetts, Pierre Jay, who was appointed in April of 1906. Jay, after learning about the cooperative credit movement in Milan, Italy, embraced the concept. Over the objection of the banking industry, Jay worked with a Boston merchant to champion credit union development in the United States. Jay's banking knowledge and credibility made his case a compelling one and his state legislature enacted Credit Union enabling legislation in April of 1909. This award recognizes Jay's commitment to his vision and work that profoundly shaped credit union history.

Mielock joins past Pierre Jay recipients Mike Fitzgerald (MI - 1997), Gary Oakland (WA - 1998 and Gavin Gee (ID - 1999). Mielock has been with the Division of Financial Institutions since 1974 and lives in a Lansing suburb with his wife, Cathleen.