Published on December 6, 2017 by Philip Poole  
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Four have been elected to Samford University’s board of trustees beginning Dec. 1. The new members include three attorneys and a Birmingham-area pastor.

Andy Birchfield, attorney with Beasley Allen Law in Montgomery, Alabama, was elected to serve a four- year term, 2017-22. He is a 1988 Samford graduate.

Albert L. Shumaker, an attorney in Centre, Alabama, is filling an unexpired term, 2017-18. Shumaker previously served 12 years as a trustee and is a 1963 graduate.

Sharon Donaldson Stuart, a partner with Christian & Small law firm in Birmingham, is filling an unexpired term, 2017-20. Stuart received an undergraduate degree from Samford in 1987 and earned her law degree in 1990. She is a part of a multi-generation Samford family.

Danny Wood, senior pastor of Shades Mountain Baptist Church in suburban Vestavia Hills, Alabama, also was elected to serve a four-year term, 2017-22. Wood earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1999 from Samford’s Beeson Divinity School.

The 43-member board serves as the governing body for the university. Trustees serve four-year terms.

Reelected to additional four-year terms were Karon O. Bowdre, federal judge, Birmingham; Victor M. Brown, an executive with the Birmingham Business Alliance; Robert Holmes Jr. of Birmingham, retired executive with Alabama Power; Don Kilgore, Jasper, Alabama business; Sherri P. McKean, board chair, Children First Foundation, Montgomery, Alabama; Garry Ray Pearman, Huntsville, Alabama businessman; and Roderic G. Steakley, attorney, Brownsboro, Alabama.

 
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford is widely recognized as having one of the most beautiful campuses in America, featuring rolling hills, meticulously maintained grounds and Georgian-Colonial architecture. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second-highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.