Paul J. Klaassen
Paul J. Klaassen is Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Sunrise Senior Living and a Trustee and past Chairman of the Board of The Trinity Forum.
Paul founded Sunrise with his wife Terry in 1981 to introduce a new resident-centered model of eldercare based loosely on Dutch assisted living models in which his grandmothers had lived.
Known for its resident-centered model and award-winning architecture, Sunrise communities provide a full range of personalized senior living services, from independent living, to assisted living, to care for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other forms of memory loss and nursing and rehabilitative care. Sunrise’s founding principles of service include encouraging independence, enabling choice, preserving dignity, celebrating individuality, and nurturing the spirit. Sunrise operates 390 communities in the United States, U.K. and Canada with revenues of nearly $2 billion. They host a resident capacity of 45,000, who are served by more than 30,000 Sunrise team members. The company went public in 1996, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: SRZ).
- In 1990, Paul founded ALFA (Assisted Living Federation of America), an industry trade group. He served as its Founding Chairman from 1990–1994 and presently serves on its board.
- In addition to his service with the Trinity Forum, where he has served as chair of the Executive Committee and twice as Chairman of the Board, most recently from 2003 through 2007, Paul serves on the Boards of The United States Chamber of Commerce, MeriStar Hospitality, and the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and is President of the Netherland-America Foundation.
A graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service with a degree in International Finance, Paul also studied at The University of Utrecht in The Netherlands.
Paul and his wife, Terry, have been married for 27 years. They have three children, Christin, David, and Lindsey and live in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC.
