THE FOUNDERS FORUM
Dr. David Klock
David Klock, Ph.D., served as Chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based CompBenefits Corporation from 1993 to 2004. Today he serves as Dean of the School of Business at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, as well as the Wells Fargo Chair in Business Administration.
Dr. Klock became an active consultant to the CompBenefits in 1981 and a Board member in 1984. He was appointed President in 1991. In 1993, Dr. Klock with the backing of Boston-based multi-billion dollar private equity investor TA Associates led a successful management buyout of CompBenefits after which he was subsequently appointed Chairman and CEO. In 1995, CompBenefits became a public company.
In June of 1999, senior management took the company private through a management buyout of CompBenefits that was supported by TA Associates and GTCR (a Chicago-based private equity investment group). During his overall tenure as CEO and/or Chairman, CompBenefits grew from $30 million in revenue to over $340 million in revenue, while achieving industry-leading profit margins. He also served as non-management Chairman of CompBenefits from 2004 to 2006—and subsequently as Chairman Emeritus—until the sale of the company to Fortune 100 member Humana, Inc. on October 1, 2007.
Dr. Klock served from 2002 to 2005 as a Board Member and the Chair of the Audit Committee for hospital operator Province Healthcare (PRV-NYSE), which was acquired by LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. (LPNT-NASDAQ) in early 2005 for $1.7 billion. In addition, since 2006, Dr. Klock has served Cheesecake Factory, Inc. (NASDAQ-CAKE) as a Member of the Board of Directors, a Member of the Audit Committee, and Chair of the Special Litigation Committee.
Dr. Klock earned his Doctorate in Finance from the University of Illinois, followed by several academic appointments–most notably as Chairman of the Finance Department at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He went on leave from UCF in 1987 to serve as an Insurance Economist at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Following his time at CompBenefits and prior to coming to UAB, Dr. Klock served as Dean of the College of Business Administration and Interim Dean, Collins School of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona.
Dr. Klock has authored four books and over 50 scholarly publications.
