Posted by Philip Poole on 2007-03-07

Samford University's trustee executive committee elected two new faculty members and received the annual audit in their regular meeting March 6.

The executive committee is authorized to act on behalf of the full board between regularly scheduled trustees meetings.

Stefan C. Norrbin was elected professor of economics, and Melissa K. Woodley was elected assistant professor of finance, both effective Aug. 20, 2007.

Norrbin currently is a professor at Florida State University. He earned a doctor of philosophy degree from Arizona State University. Woodley is a visiting professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and will receive a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Alabama in May.

Trustees also received the annual audit for the 2005-06 fiscal year. Among the audit highlights were that no "material weaknesses or significant deficiencies" were found, according to university officials. At the end of the fiscal year, Samford's endowment was listed as $278 million.

Trustees also formally approved the naming of the Darwin C. Hardison Tennis Courts as part of Samford's new tennis center. The 6 outdoor courts replace the previous Hardison tennis facility that was eliminated with the construction of the new Pete Hanna Center.

Two new advisory board members were approved for Samford's School of Business: Robert Lee Smith Jr., executive vice president of Compass Bank in Birmingham, and Tim Taylor of Birmingham, a project consultant for NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and other entities.

 
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 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.