Harry B. Brock, Jr.

Innovative Banker, Infl uential Professional and Civic Leader

Harry B. Brock, Jr. was born in Fort Payne, Alabama on March 31, 1926, and grew up in Gadsden and Hokes Bluff. He is a graduate of the Tennessee Military Institute and he served in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service during World War II.

After leaving the Navy, he entered the University of Alabama where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and the first golf team. He graduated in 1949 with a B.S. in Commerce and Business Administration.

On March 2, 1964, when Harry Brock, Jr. and a group of his friends opened the first new bank in Birmingham in 18 years, no one could have predicted that this small beginning would change the structure of banking in Alabama and lay the foundation for Birmingham to become a major regional banking center.

Spearheading the multi-bank holding company concept in Alabama, in 1971, Mr. Brock brought Central Bank and State National Bank of Alabama together to form a registered bank holding company, Central and State National Corporation of Alabama.

As more banks joined the Central family, the name changed to Central Bancshares of the South, Inc. Mr. Brock was instrumental in the passage of the Statewide Bank Merger bill of 1980, allowing bank branching across county lines. This made it possible for Brock to merge his banks into one bank with branches throughout the state.

In 1987, Central Bancshares purchased a bank in Texas, thus becoming the first bank in Alabama to own a bank in another state and the first out-of-state bank to own a bank in Texas. He named the Texas operation Compass Bancshares of Texas and later changed the name of the parent organization to Compass Bancshares. Mr. Brock served as Chairman and CEO of Compass Bancshares and Compass Bank of the South until his retirement in March, 1991.

Mr. Brock, an innovative leader in the banking industry, has given unstintingly of his time, expertise and financial resources to help make Birmingham, Jefferson County and the State of Alabama a better place in which to live and work. He has been an active board member of numerous charitable and civic organizations in Alabama.

In 1962, Mr. Brock became a member of the Samford University Board of Trustees, and was named a member of the Executive Committee in 1963. He served as Chairman of the Board from 1986 until 1991. He received an honorary doctorate from Samford University in 1994.

Mr. Brock was inducted in the Alabama Academy of Honor in August, 1983 and the Alabama Business Hall of Fame in October, 1993.

Mr. Brock is married to the former Jane Hollock. The Brocks have three grown children: two sons and a daughter, and six grandchildren. The Brocks are members of the Mountain Brook Baptist Church.