Wauwatosa-based Waterstone Financial Inc. announced this week that current chief executive officer Douglas S. Gordon will retire on December 31, 2023.
Gordon will continue to serve on the Board of Directors of the company and its wholly owned subsidiaries WaterStone Bank and Waterstone Mortgage.
“During his tenure, Doug led us through a successful conversion to a publicly held institution, enabling the Bank to grow from $1.4 billion to over $2.2 billion in assets and grow a mortgage banking operation that has achieved in excess of $4 billion in annual mortgage originations,” said Pat Lawton, chairman of the board, in a press release.
William F. Bruss has been elected to serve as the next CEO. Bruss is currently the president of the Waterstone Financial and WaterStone Bank. This transition comes after years of planning.
“Bill has served in a variety of leadership positions with the Company and is highly respected within the organization,” said Lawton in a press release. “We are proud of what the Company has accomplished and are optimistic that the future will be even better.”
Bruss has worked for WaterStone Bank since 1997 and has been an executive officer of Waterstone Financial since 2005. He served as general counsel and secretary, chief operating officer, executive vice president of the company and the bank, and president. Bruss holds a Bachelor of Arts from St. Olaf College, and a Juris Doctor from Marquette University.
