Samford University

Samford University is a Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College.Samford University is the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford University is Alabama's top-ranked private university. The university enrolls 5,619 students from 44 states and 30 countries. Samford University has been nationally ranked for academic programs, value and affordability by Kiplinger's Personal Finance and The Princeton Review.

In 1841, Samford University was founded as Howard College in Marion, Alabama. Some of the land was donated by Reverend James H. DeVotie, who served on the Samford Board of Trustees for fifteen years and as its President for two years. The first financial gift, $4,000, was given by Julia Tarrant Barron and both she and her son also gave land to establish the college. The university was established after the Alabama Baptist State Convention decided to build a school for men in Perry County, Alabama. The college's first nine students began studies in January 1842 with a traditional curriculum of language, literature and sciences. In those early years the graduation addresses of several distinguished speakers were published, including those by Thomas G. Keen of Mobile, Joseph Walters Taylor, Noah K. Davis and Samuel Sterling Sherman.