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 6,101 students from 45 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 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.