Howard College Samford University

Brief timeline of presidents and schools
1841 1841 Chartered in Perry County, Alabama
Named in honor of John Howard, English advocate of prison reform
1842 1842 Opened in Marion, Alabama
Samuel Sterling Sherman was sole instructor and first president
1848 1848 First graduation class consisted of seven men
1853 1853 Henry Talbird, President, 1853-1863
1863 1863 Buildings used as Confederate military hospital
1865 1865 Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, President, 1865-1868
1868 1868 Edward Quinn Thornton, President, 1868-1869
1869 1869 Samuel R. Freeman, President, 1869-1871
1871 1871 James T. Murfee, President, 1871-1887
1887 1887 College moved from Marion to East Lake section of the rapidly growing industrial city of Birmingham
1888 1888 Benjamin Franklin Riley, President, 1888-1893
1893 1893 Arthur Watkins McGaha, President, 1893-1896
1896 1896 A.D. Smith, President, 1896-1897
1897 1897 Frank M. Roof, President, 1897-1902
1902 1903 Andrew Phillip Montague, President, 1902-1912
1912 1912 James Madison Shelburne, President, 1912-1918
1913 1913 Military curriculum abandoned
Women admitted as regular students
1914 1914 Teacher Education Division established
1919 1919 Charles B. Williams, President, 1919-1921
1921 1921 John C. Dawson, President, 1921-1931
1926 1926 Mrs. Charles J. Sharp becomes the first female member of the Board of Trustees
1927 1927 Department of Pharmacy established
1932 1932 Thomas V. Neal, President, 1932-1939
1939 1939 Harwell G. Davis, President, 1939-1958
1946 1946 Margaret Ann Miller Peterson becomes the first female president of the SGA
1957 1957 College moved from East Lake to Homewood
1958 1958 Leslie Stephan Wright, President, 1958-1983
1961 1961 Cumberland School of Law acquired
1965 1965 Elevated to University status
Renamed Samford University in honor of Frank Park Samford
1967 1967 Integration
Samford admits their first African-American student, Audrey Gaston, in Cumberland School of Law
1969 1969 Elizabeth Sloan becomes the first African-American to live on campus
1973 1973 Acquired Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing
1983 1983 Thomas Edward Corts, President, 1983-2006
1984 1984 Martha Ann Cox becomes the first female Vice President
1984 1984 London Center purchased
1988 1988 Beeson School of Divinity established
2006 2006 Andrew Westmoreland inaugurated as president
2013 2013 Office of Diversity and Intercultural Initiatives established
2013 2013 College of Health Sciences established
2014 2014 The Samford Black Alumni Association formed
2014 2014 Largest single expansion of the campus, including 28 acres, is completed with the purchase of Southern Progress Corporation property
2015 2015 Tim Vines, the first Person of Color appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees

Samford University consists of the Howard College of Arts and Sciences, Schools of the Arts, Brock School of Business, Beeson Divinity School, Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education and Professional Studies, College of Health Sciences,
Cumberland School of Law.