Dave North is an industry icon, having served Sedgwick’s as chief executive officer— a position he has held since 1995 -and then Executive Chairman since 2020, until retiring from the company in June 2024. Dave now serves on the company’s Board ofDirectors. During the period of his leadership, Sedgwick experienced meteoric growth and expansion. When he joined Sedgwick, the company had fewer than 500 staff with$50 million in annual revenue. Under Dave’s leadership, Sedgwick grew from a boutique, regional third-party claims administrator to the premier global provider of innovative solutions in the areas of workers’ compensation, disability and absence management, property loss adjusting and other specialty services.
Today, Sedgwick has more than 33,000 colleagues across 80 countries, earns more than$5 billion in revenue each year, and is the largest third-party administrator in the world.
In his more than two decades leading Sedgwick, Dave introduced a customer-focused approach to managing claims and fostered a creative environment where innovative solutions for clients are created. At the helm of Sedgwick, Dave steered a dynamic new shift, making it one of the first companies in the insurance industry to leverage a successful growth strategy through a private equity model of expansion and acquisition.
In 2024, Dave received the Business Insurance Magazine’s Insurance Hall of Fame/Lifetime Achievement award. In September 2019, Dave was recognized and honored at the 40th Anniversary Gala of the Spencer Foundation for his commitment and support ofrisk management and insurance education for students. In March of 2018, Dave received the CLM Lifetime Achievement Award for his profound impact on the claims profession.Dave is well known for his generosity and commitment to bettering the community, asa leading ally of Folds of Honor, theSpencer Foundation, and the University of MemphisFoundation Board and its President’s Innovation Board, along with building community assets for the common good
Dave previously developed and taught the American Management Association course on Advanced Risk Management Strategies: Managing the Total Cost of Risk. He co-authored the book The Art of Self-Insurance. Dave has served on the board of the Workers’Compensation Research Institute and is past chairman of the board of the Integrated Benefits Institute.
He served as director for The Institutes and a member of the Business InsuranceWomen to Watch Advisory Board. In 2016, Dave was appointed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam to serve on The University of Memphis’ newly chartered Board of Trusteesas chairman.
Dave was born in Detroit, Michigan, the eldest of five brothers. He served as a volunteer firefighter in the local community and later became a professional firefighter. Dave served our country in the U.S. Air Force before starting his career in insurance. These experiences along with his background in safety led him to the claims industry as a way to serve others during a time of loss and recovery. Dave was graduated from the College of theAir Force, the Wharton School Executive Education Program and University of MichiganExecutive Leadership Program
