2015 Hall of Fame: Jack Bovender

Jack Bovender began his hospital administration career as a Navy lieutenant assigned to the Naval Regional Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va.

During his early years with HCA, Bovender was an associate administrator at West Florida Regional Hospital in Pensacola, Fla.

Bovender was HCA's COO during its 1994 merger with Columbia Hospital Corp. He then retired briefly but returned to the company in 1997 after Rick Scott was ousted as CEO. Bovender served as HCA's chairman and CEO from 2002 to 2009.

A licensed pilot, Bovender has flown frequently as a hobby.

In 2007, Bovender is joined by Dolly Parton and Dr. Bill Frist, former Senate majority leader, at a ceremony in which Bovender received a Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. Parton won a Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service that year.

Bovender (left) served as chairman of the Southeast U.S./Japan Association. Pictured at the 2012 annual joint meeting with the Japan-U.S. Southeast Association in Tokyo, he toasts with (left to right) Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant; Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of the Japanese association; and Tennesee Gov. Bill Haslam. The groups work to foster closer business and cultural ties.