Published on September 28, 2015  

Heather West, director of our Critical Languages Program, was named a Knight of the Order of Academic Palms by the government of France in recognition of her record of service to French education. She founded the Samford in France program in 1996 and is currently serving as the executive director of the Alabama World Languages Association.

Elmer Harris, a Samford trustee and former President and CEO of Alabama Power, was recognized by the government of Japan with the presentation of the Order of the Rising Sun. Mr. Harris served for a decade as Honorary Consul General of Japan, promoting closer ties between Alabama and Japan.

The world is better because of the international engagement of Samford’s faculty, students, alumni, and friends.

 
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.