University of Kentucky Credit Union in Lexington has named Ryan Ross as its new president and CEO.

Ross was most recently the chief executive officer for Soarion Credit Union in San Antonio, Texas.

In a blog post, Ross said his last day at Soarion will be Oct. 4.

“This new opportunity will allow my family and I to be closer to our relatives since many of them live in that part of the country,” Ross said. “I could not be happier for what we have accomplished in order to better serve you as our members.”

Ross was CEO of the $645 million-asset Soarion for four years. During that time, the credit union rebranded from Air Force Federal Credit Union and saw its membership climb to more than 55,000.

Ross will be replaced at Soarion by its current Executive Vice President and CFO, Ric Ledezma, who will step into the president and CEO role effective Oct. 7.

Since joining Soarion in 2022, Ledezma has taken on the leadership and strategic direction of the credit solutions, risk management and information technology functions.

At University of Kentucky FCU, Ross replaces Dan Kittleson, who took the CEO role on an interim basis. He is the credit union’s CFO.

The $1.5 billion-asset UKFCU, which has more than 107,000 members, said Ross will start work there Oct. 14.

“When speaking to Ryan, the board could very quickly recognize his deep history and understanding of credit unions and member-centric ideologies that maintain our unique position and appeal to Central Kentuckians,” said board chairman Tyler Gayheart.

Soarion earned roughly $1.2 million in the first half of 2024, identical to its earnings from a year earlier, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration.

For UKFCU, earnings were down 42% after the second quarter to $5.8 million.

“Please rest assured that business will continue as usual during this transition and I have full faith that Ric will continue to carry on with the vision he and I, along with our trusted board of directors, set forth to offer innovative financial solutions for the benefit of you, our valued members.”

 – Ryan Ross
outgoing CEO
Soarion Credit Union