Published on January 3, 2017 by Philip Poole  
Keith Herron

Birmingham banking executive Keith Herron has been elected chair of Samford University’s Board of Overseers for 2017. Carolyn Maull McKinstry is the new vice chair of the board.

The 56-member board includes business, community and church leaders who advise the administration and are advocates for the university.

Herron, a 1986 Samford graduate, is senior executive vice president with Regions Financial Corp. in Birmingham. He had served as board vice chair in 2016. McKinstry, a speaker and community volunteer from Birmingham, received a master of divinity degree from Samford’s Beeson Divinity School in 2008.

Ten new members have joined the board:

Scott Bashrum of Frisco, Texas, an executive with Xerox Corp. and an active member of the Samford Parents Leadership Council.

John L. Cantellow III, M.Div. ’94 and D.Min. ’16, pastor of Birmingham’s Sixth Avenue Baptist Church.

William J. Christenberry, a Birmingham veterinarian.

Peter John Clemens IV, B.A. ’87, of Franklin, Tennessee, former chief financial officer for several health-care companies, including CareMark.

Chervis Isom, J.D. ’67, an attorney with the Birmingham firm Baker, Donelson.

Mark W. McCutcheon of Birmingham, chairman and chief executive officer, Golden Flake Snack Foods.

Leigh Davis, M.B.A. ’05, of Birmingham, senior vice president and general counsel, operations and Southern Nuclear, Southern Company Services Inc.

Steve Vinyard, retired president of FabArc Steel, Oxford, Alabama.

Cecelia Walker, M.Div. ’98, director of clinical pastor education, Baptist Princeton Health Center, Birmingham.

Gary Wyatt of Birmingham, president of Gary C. Wyatt Construction.

Jeffrey I. Stone of Birmingham, central region president for Brasfield and Gorrie LLC, is completing his term as board chair.

 
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 5,791 students from 49 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.