OSWALD BEST (1954 - 1967)
Mr. Oswald Best, the first president of the Credit Union served between 1954 - 1967. He was the curator in the Department of Pathology. As President he will be remembered as a man who was on a pilgrimage to recruit members into the Credit Union. With missionary zeal he would introduce everyone he met to the Credit Union. At Annual General Meetings he would invite the very best from CUNA Mutual Insurance Society, the insurance arm of the Credit Union movement to address the gathering.

From the early days it was a given that the non-academic staff joined the Credit Union, but it was not as easy obtaining membership from faculty. However, when the Credit Union obtained the services of a contractor back then to build thirty houses for members in Nannyville, and later on providing loans to assist with home purchase in Mountain Terrace and Elletson Flats Housing Schemes, more persons on the campus started realizing that the Credit Union was serious business and this stimulated administrative staff and faculty to sign for membership.

SMART MARTIN BRYAN (1967 - 1968)
Mr. Smart Bryan was the second president of the Credit Union. Mr. Bryan’s tenure as President was relatively short, 1967 - 1968. He was employed to the Personnel Department and the period was characterized by some dark days in the Credit Union’s history, but the Credit Union soon bounced back to its path of success.

DAVID BYFIELD (1968 - 1975)
The third president was Mr. David Byfield who was from the Chemistry Department and served from 1968 - 1975. During his presidency, with the assistance of Father McLaughlin, he secured housing for members at Mountain Terrace. The deposit for the houses was $1,284.00 dollars, the closing costs $800.00 and the monthly mortgage
$655.00.

EWAN REID SNR. (1975 - 1984)

Mr. Ewan Reid Snr., the fourth President of the Credit Union served between 1975 - 1984. He recalled that his tenure was a challenging and checkered one. One of the main challenges was to obtain permission from the UWI to obtain a suitable site for offices. He made special mention of a former Vice Chancellor - Dr. A. Z. Preston who greatly assisted the efforts to procure land. During his presidency, Mr. Reid recounted that there was a turn in the type of membership of the Credit Union.

EZRA AUGUSTUS LEWIS (1984 - 1988)

On November 30, 1971 the UWI (Mona) & Community Co-op. Credit Union Ltd. approved the membership of Ezra Augustus Lewis. He was destined to hold leadership positions in the cooperative, and sure he did. Through active participation in the affairs of the Credit Union, he was elected to the Board of Directors in 1977 and continued at that level up to the time of his passing in 1998.

Upon recognizing his thoroughness and penchant for transparency and accountability, his colleague directors elected him to be Treasurer in 1977, a position which he held up to 1984. Steeped in the philosophy of the Credit Union Movement to provide quality life for its members, he was influential in establishing the Consumer Co-op. in an effort to obtaining scarce consumer items for members. The Treasurer’s reports, which he presented over the years, were characterized by accuracy and precision, and guarded optimism in the face of declining economic conditions. His demonstrated leadership qualities and handling of the Co-op.’s financial portfolio made him the obvious choice for President when that position became vacant in 1985. He was elected unopposed. Throughout his period of directorship, Mr. Lewis emphasized the need for the Credit Union to be engaged in activities that would lead to economic independence. He stressed the development of proposals for small economic ventures, which members could pursue. Mr. Lewis often lamented the fact that the accounts were so badly in arrears and exhorted his team to spare no effort to make them current.

This materialized in 1992, consequent to changes in operational procedures including computerization of the accounts in 1990. The Credit Union thus moved from a state of being among other Credit Unions, which were in arrears, to being among the only three Credit Unions in the island whose accounts, were current in 1995. His concern for the efficient operation of Credit Unions extended beyond the boundaries of this Credit Union. He initiated discussions for the constructive engagement of the University Hospital Credit Union, which was in difficulty in the 1990s. With the help of the Credit Union League and the support of the members, an engagement was consummated in June 1995. Recognizing that there were persons in surrounding communities, who did not have a Credit Union, he sought to widen the ‘Common Bond’ to facilitate their participation. This was approved and the name of the Credit Union was changed in 1997 to the UWI (Mona) & Community Co-operative Credit Union Limited. Both in his capacity as Treasurer and President, Mr. Lewis represented the Credit Union at national, regional and international levels. His last initiative was the acquisition of the new Credit Union building. He relentlessly pursued all avenues to achieving this goal, and spoke determinedly of breaking ground by the end of the year 1998. Unfortunately fate intervened. Ezra Augustus Lewis was a visionary, a tireless worker and a true Credit Union stalwart.

K. A. GRANT (‘KG’) (1998 - PRESENT)

Kenneth Grant joined the Credit Union in 1970 and received his first loan of $2,300.00 in 1976 to purchase a 1971 VW motor car for the princely sum of $1,800.00. The remaining $300.00 was used for insurance and miscellaneous repairs to the car. By 1977 the young ‘KG’ was pressured by his best friends at the time, Pauline Samuels and Frederick Hemmings, to serve with them on the Supervisory Committee, but after one year he was elected to serve as a member of the Board of Directors and within one year, he volunteered to fill a vacancy on the Credit Committee, created by the retirement of Mrs. Allwood, who at the time was a long-standing member of the Committee.

At the time the Credit Committee was comprised of three persons - Vecas Campbell, Sylvester Barrett and Kenneth Grant. ‘KG’ served the Credit Committee for nearly twenty years until he was again elected to the Board in 1995. He succeeded Mr. Ezra Lewis as President in 1998, by which time he had already earned the reputation among his colleagues and the membership, as a man unwavering in his pursuit of the protection of workers’ rights and an undiluted sense of fair play. Like his predecessor he has demonstrated and sometimes remonstrated his keen-eyed business acumen in carrying out his duties. The diminutive stature of ‘KG’ runs contrary to the immense contribution he has made to the Credit Union’s success story. During his watch, the Credit Union experienced growth not seen before. The growth of the Credit Union since 1998 is four times as much as it experienced in the previous forty-four years. In 1998 total assets were just over $100M, today we have a Credit Union with assets $1/2B strong. Some of the achievements of the Credit Union since his Presidency are the highest dividends payouts in consecutive years, commencing with 1999; the introduction of the CUMBO Mortgage Plan in partnership with the Victoria Mutual Building Society; the administering of the UWI/MONASA and UAWU Loan Schemes and more recently the WIGUT Scheme; the introduction of the debit card service; the opening of the UTech branch; the introduction of the cambio service; the collection of students fees on behalf of the UWI; the Credit Union receiving the largest asset growth in 2000 in Jamaica and Credit Union of the Year in Category II that same year and joint winners with the Jamaica Police Co-op. Credit Union Ltd. as Credit Union of the year in Category I in 2001; the Credit Union staff becoming the Jamaica Co-op. Credit Union League’s 60th Anniversary ‘Pop Quiz Champions’ and to add to this, the introduction of the ‘People 2 People Remittance’ Service. Today, he continues to execute his duties with a focus that would suggest that his mission is not yet completed as he vigorously pilots the organization. Just as it was in 1999 that he saw to the completion of the building, now that the growth during his Presidency has already made the new building too small, he is putting the plans in place to make additions to the building for even more convenience to the members. May the presidency of this cooperator to the core continue to redound to the benefit of the Credit Union.

The march of the Presidents continues and we salute these icons for their unflinching efforts in the development of the Credit Union.