Harold M. Groves
1897-1969
Economics Professor
Groves was among those who signed the original charter to establish the credit union and served as a Board Director.
Groves was born on a farm near Lodi, Wisconsin. He enrolled as a freshman at the University of Wisconsin in 1915 and quickly became a leader among his class. He attended Harvard Law School in 1920, but was short on money and returned to Wisconsin to teach high school. He later entered graduate school majoring in labor economics under John R. Commons and Selig Perlman. Groves approached economics as a practical way to serve humanity. After completing his Ph.D. in 1927, Groves stayed on for a temporary assignment teaching public finance. The position became permanent, which kept Groves in Madison where he became very active in the local community.
At a church supper in the spring of 1930, a former classmate of Groves, Phil La Follette, confided his plans to run for governor and encouraged Groves to run for an assembly seat. Groves had become an expert on public finance and taxation and thought he could put this knowledge to use in service to the people of the state. He was elected and served in the state Assembly from 1930 until the spring of 1932 when he resigned to accept an appointment to the Wisconsin Tax Commission. While in the state Assembly, Harold M. Groves introduced a number of important bills that were signed into law. One was the Unemployment Insurance Law, which became the model nationally for Unemployment Insurance. The second was Assembly Bill No. 485-A, the "Groves Bill." A research assistant at the University wrote an acquaintance about the draft noting, "It is probably fair to say that the fundamental aim of the Groves Bill is the hope of laying the foundation for a future development of credit unions in the state." The bill passed and was signed by the Governor on July 6, 1931. The bill appropriated $5,000 to the banking commission for encouragement of credit unions. Groves went on to serve in the State Senate from 1934-1936.
After many years of distinguished service to the University, government and civic affairs, Groves retired from the University in 1968. Following his death in 1969, the Capital Times wrote, "Harold Groves was far more than an internationally-known economist and tax expert. He was the veritable epitome of the Wisconsin Idea..."