Navy Federal Credit Union CEO McDuffie to retire

Mary McDuffie, president and CEO of Vienna-based Navy Federal Credit Union, the nation’s largest credit union with $168.4 billion in assets and more than 13 million members, is retiring as of the end of February, and Chief Operating Officer Dietrich Kuhlmann will succeed her starting March 1, the credit union announced Wednesday.

According to the announcement, McDuffie, who became the credit union’s CEO in 2018, announced her retirement in September 2023, but Navy Federal did not send out a public announcement at the time. McDuffie has been with the credit union for 24 years.

Kuhlmann, meanwhile, was named COO in 2022, after joining the financial institution in 2019 as head of branch operations and then serving as chief real estate lending officer. He was also a member of the credit union’s board of directors from 2010 to 2012 and is a retired Navy rear admiral.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Dietrich in numerous capacities since he came on board at Navy Federal,” McDuffie said in a statement. “A leader of integrity with a powerful sense of duty and purpose, Dietrich also genuinely understands what our members need. I can think of no better individual to steer us into the next phase of growth and further our mission to serve Navy Federal Credit Union’s members and their families.”

Kuhlmann is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, and he holds a master’s degree in engineering management from Catholic University of America. Before joining the credit union, he served 35 years in the Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense. He was a career submariner with a sub-specialty in financial management, working as programming division director on staff of the Chief of Naval Operations and overseeing the Navy’s $800 billion, five-year capital allocation process, according to Navy Federal’s announcement Wednesday.

“I’m tremendously grateful to be trusted with the responsibility to lead Navy Federal Credit Union,” Kuhlmann said in a statement. “This is an incredible opportunity to continue my career of service to our military community, and I’m eager to build upon the progress Mary has championed on behalf of our members as CEO.”

As Navy Federal’s first woman CEO, McDuffie led more than 22,000 employees. A Wellesley College alumna, she was senior vice president of marketing for electronic payments company Star Systems and started her career with ad agency J. Walter Thompson and serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Baltimore board. Her board term ends this year, according to the Richmond Fed.