ALEXANDRIA, Va. — David Marquis has run one of the NCUA's most high profile departments for the past 14 years. Starting next month, his management skills and knowledge of the credit union industry will be further tested when he takes over as the agency's executive director.Marquis has been director of the NCUA's Office of Examination and Insurance since 1994. He will succeed J. Leonard Skiles, the agency's executive director since 2001 who will retire at the end of the month."Len Skiles has been an integral part of NCUA for most of its history, and he will leave behind a legacy of excellence. It will be a challenge to the rest of us to live up to the standards that he has set," NCUA Chairman Michael E. Fryzel said in a statement. "Fortunately, part of that legacy has been an abundance of exceptionally talented staff, and that is one of the reasons why NCUA will continue to perform at a high level with Dave Marquis at the ED helm."As executive director, Marquis will run the agency on a day-to-day basis. He began his career as an examiner in Baltimore in 1978 and is already well-known to the board. He regularly reports about the health of the NCUSIF at public board meetings and during private briefings for board members.Marquis declined through a spokesman to be interviewed.His other jobs at the NCUA have included supervisory examiner, associate regional director and regional director as well as deputy director of the Office of Examination and Insurance.Marquis earned his undergraduate degree in accounting from what was once known as the University of Lowell but is now called the University of Massachusetts Lowell. That city is 24 miles south of Manchester, N.H., the home of the first credit union in the United States and the site of America's Credit Union Museum.Marquis' ascent to the NCUA's top administrative post is likely to be the first of several changes at the agency next year as NCUA Vice Chairman Rodney Hood's term expires in April.Also, the president has the right to name the chairman of each regulatory agency. Therefore, Democratic President-elect Barack Obama could replace Fryzel, a Republican, as chairman. Even if Fryzel is replaced as chairman, he could remain on the board until his term expires in 2013.–[email protected]