April 14, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - David R. Klock, Ph.D., dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Business and Graduate School of Management, has been appointed by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees as the second holder of the Wachovia Endowed Chair in Business Administration.

The endowed chair was established in November 2006 to enable the UAB School of Business to recruit and retain a dean with academic excellence and visionary guidance. Klock succeeds former Dean Robert E. Holmes, Ph.D., the first holder of the endowed chair.

Klock most recently was dean of the College of Business Administration at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona.  Klock's appointment at UAB was effective March, 1, 2008.

 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, 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.