December 21, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – David R. Klock, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business Administration at California State Polytechnic University – Pomona, will be the new dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Business. Eli Capilouto, UAB provost, made the announcement today.

Klock’s appointment is effective March 1, 2008.

“Dr. Klock has been both a high-quality academic leader and a business entrepreneur who established a health benefits company that became an industry standard. This wealth of experience in both worlds makes him a perfect fit for not only the school, but also for the university and Birmingham,” Capilouto said.

I want to commend and thank the search committee, which was led by UAB School of Engineering Dean Linda Lucas, for bringing forward a very strong slate of candidates.”

Prior to joining Cal Poly – Pomona, Klock spent 11 years as chairman and CEO of CompBenefits Corp., a health care benefits provider. He joined the company in 1991 as president. He led CompBenefits as it became a publicly traded company of 800 employees with more than $300 million in revenue.

Klock began his academic career as assistant professor of finance at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va. After three years, he moved to the University of Florida and then to Texas Tech University as an associate professor before spending 10 years at the University of Central Florida, rising to the rank of professor of finance, chair of the finance department, and Fellow of the Phillips Institute for the Study of American Business Activity.

Klock has served on a number of corporate boards, including Cheesecake Factory, Province Healthcare and other local organizations. He is author or co-author of several books and numerous journal articles, and is active in a number of professional associations.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Northeastern University in Boston. He then earned a master’s degree and doctorate in finance from the University of Illinois.

“The School of Business at UAB is a place of excellence that creates opportunity for student growth and for faculty research that can make a material long-term contribution to business and community growth,” Klock said.

The UAB School of Business and the Graduate School of Management is fully accredited by the AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). With an enrollment of more than 2,000, the nationally recognized programs and centers of the UAB School of Business attract students from across the country and around the world.