Dr. William E. Hull returned to Samford, his alma mater, as Provost in 1987, following a distinguished career as a theologian and pastor.  With a towering intellect, a gentle spirit, and a commitment to faith and scholarship, he led Samford’s academic program until his retirement in 1996.  He serves today with the title of Research Professor.  A decade ago, when Mark Noll—then at Wheaton and now at Notre Dame—challenged those of us in Christ-centered higher education to engage in serious scholarship, he quoted our own Bill Hull:  “The church has failed to define its intellectual responsibilities in compelling terms, to call out from among its own those gifted to discharge this neglected stewardship, and to provide such budding scholars with support for the kind of advanced training that will equip them to do credible work on so exacting a frontier.”  At the commencement ceremony this Saturday morning, December 13, in recognition of a lifetime of raising the standards for himself and those around him, we will bestow upon Dr. Hull an honorary degree. 

 

The world is better because of William E. Hull.

 
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.