POCATELLO, Idaho — How often are you able to find joy in both your professional career and your volunteer efforts?

For Idaho State University Department of Economics Professor Dr. Robert Tokle, the perfect foil to his career has turned out to be his role as a board member of Idaho State University Federal Credit Union and he owes it all to his wife.

"It was my wife who gave me the idea to get involved because at the time she was teaching part-time and was pregnant with our first child so didn't have the time to do it herself," said Tokle. "It turns out the teaching, my research and service to the credit union have been a natural fit and I've become a kind of expert on credit unions." In 1997 Tokle was elected ISUFCU chairman and has served as a member of the asset/liability management committee. Since Tokle's joining the board in 1992, the credit union has grown from about $15 million in assets to $76 million in assets, while its capital ratio has improved from 6% to 10%. He was an early and strong advocate of ISUFCU partnering with Pocatello Neighborhood Housing Services to help people with lower incomes make home improvements and/or buy homes and a big supporter of risk-based lending.