Samford University

Samford University is a private Christian university on a 247-acre campus in Homewood, in the Birmingham area. Baptists founded it as Howard College in Marion in 1841, and it took the Samford name in 1965. It enrolls about 6,500 students and is described as Alabama‘s largest private university.[1][2][3]

History

Howard College was chartered in 1841 in Perry County, named for prison reformer John Howard, and opened in Marion in January 1842 with nine students and Samuel Sterling Sherman as first president. The first graduating class of seven men finished in 1848, and the campus served as a Confederate military hospital in 1863. The college moved to East Lake in Birmingham in 1887, became permanently coeducational in 1913, and relocated to its present Shades Valley campus in Homewood in 1957. It became Samford University in 1965, honouring trustee Frank Park Samford. Since 1994 its board elects its own members independently of the Alabama Baptist Convention.[1][2][3]

Schools and academics

Ten academic units include Howard College of Arts and Sciences, the Brock School of Business, the Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education, the School of the Arts, the Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing (acquired 1973), the McWhorter School of Pharmacy (a pharmacy department since 1927), Beeson Divinity School (1988) and the Cumberland School of Law, acquired in 1961 and founded in 1847 in Lebanon, Tennessee. Gifts from Ralph W. Beeson and his family exceeded $100 million, and the endowment passed $250 million by 2006, when Thomas E. Corts ended a 1983-2006 presidency. Beck A. Taylor became the 19th president in 2021.[1][2][3]

Campus

The brick Georgian Colonial campus was modelled on Colonial Williamsburg. A 28-acre expansion, the largest in its history, was completed in 2014 with the former Southern Progress Corporation property, and a Campus Recreation, Wellness and Athletics Complex was completed in 2024.[1][3]

Athletics and rankings

The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I (FCS) in the Southern Conference, which they joined in 2008, with 17 varsity sports and 87 conference championships since. Niche ranked Samford 20th among Christian colleges in 2025, and U.S. News placed it 35th for undergraduate teaching. About 59,000 alumni are living.[1]

FAQs

When was Samford founded? 1841, as Howard College.

Where is Samford? Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham.

Does Samford have a law school? Yes, the Cumberland School of Law.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Samford University
2. Encyclopedia of Alabama: Samford University
3. Samford University Library: Howard College and Samford University timeline

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 10, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue