The annual meeting will be the last for Fortney as president/CEO, who announced in February that she will retire this year.

Lucy Ito, executive vice president and chief operations officer of the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues, has been announced as Fortney's successor.

Fortney has been with NASCUS for 22 years, serving as the organization's president and CEO for the past 11.

Fortney thanked Gonzales for presenting her with the declaration.

“I'm speechless,” she said. “I have a lot of favorite cities, but I think Nashville is going to be my most favorite. That's quite an honor.”

Fortney said the entire NASCUS organization and its supporters deserved recognition.

“It's not about me; it's about you all,” she said. “You have made it possible for me to be here and to be recognized like this.”

Also at this week's conference, three state regulators who had initially been appointed to terms on the board to fill vacant seats were elected to serve full three-year terms.

The new NASCUS board members are Jay Bienvenu (Mass.), Rose Conner (N.C.) and Kim Santos (Wis.), whose terms end in 2017.

Bienvenu is the deputy commissioner of Financial Institution Supervision with the Massachusetts Division of Banks, Conner serves as administrator of the North Carolina Credit Union Division and Santos is director of the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions Office of Credit Unions Division, according to NASCUS.

The NASCUS board also elected officers and announced these results:

Stephen S. Pleger, senior deputy commissioner for the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, was named chair of the board. The previous chairman was John Kolhoff, director of the Michigan Office of Credit Unions.

Mary Ellen O'Neill, director of the Financial Institution Division of the Connecticut Department of Banking, was tapped as chairman-elect.

Bienvenu, one of the newly-elected board members, was named ecretary/treasurer.

The remaining NASCUS Board members include: John Fields, deputy chief examiner for the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions; Linda K. Jekel, director of the Washington Department of Financial Institutions Division of Credit Unions and Werner Paul, deputy commissioner for the Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions, the association said.