40 Notable alumni of Samford University
Updated: June 15, 2026 EliteDegrees
Samford University is ranked #1,930 in the world and #475 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 40 notable alumni from Samford University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Samford University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Noah Caton
1897-1922 (aged 25)
American football player
Noah Winston Caton was an American football player and track star for the Auburn Tigers of Auburn University. Caton was thrice selected All-Southern. He was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. His older brother Eugene was also a prominent Auburn football player.
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2. Michael F. Bolin
1948-. (aged 78)
lawyer
judge
Michael Franklyn Bolin is an American lawyer and jurist from Alabama. He served as an associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court from 2005 to 2023.
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3. Glenn Hearn
1914-1978 (aged 64)
politician
Glenn Hubbard Hearn was an American politician who served as mayor of Huntsville, Alabama, from 1964 to 1968. He also served as a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1941 until becoming mayor, and as the senior agent in charge of the North Alabama division since 1944.
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4. Andrew Price
1854-1909 (aged 55)
lawyer
politician
Andrew Price was an American lawyer and politician who served four terms as a U.S. representative from Louisiana from 1889 to 1897.
5. Brett Hage
1974-. (aged 52)
politician
Brett Hage is a Republican former member of the Florida Legislature representing the state's 33rd House district, which included Sumter County as well as parts of Lake and Marion counties, from 2018 to 2022. Hage announced in April 2022 that he would not seek reelection.
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6. Lem Johns
1925-2014 (aged 89)
U.S. Secret Service agent
Thomas Lemuel "Lem" Johns was a member of the United States Secret Service present during the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the first inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson.
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7. Ryan McDaniel
1988-. (aged 38)
American football player
Ryan McDaniel is an American former professional football wide receiver who played for the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League (AFL). He played collegiately at Samford University.
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8. Ehren Wassermann
1980-. (aged 46)
baseball player
Ehren Josef Wassermann is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He currently serves as the head coach for John Carroll Catholic High School. A right-handed sidearm pitcher, Wassermann made his Major League Baseball debut with the Chicago White Sox on July 20, 2007, against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, retiring both batters faced.
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9. Patrick N. Millsaps
1973-. (aged 53)
lawyer
film producer
Patrick Neill Millsaps is an American attorney and film producer.
10. John Trotwood Moore
1858-1929 (aged 71)
novelist
writer
journalist
John Trotwood Moore was an American journalist, writer and local historian. He was the author of many poems, short stories and novels. He served as the State Librarian and Archivist of Tennessee from 1919 to 1929. He created Moore Academy in Pine Apple, Alabama in 1883. He was "an apologist for the Old South", and a proponent of lynching.
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11. W. C. Morrow
1854-1923 (aged 69)
writer
novelist
essayist
short story writer
William Chambers Morrow was an American writer, now noted mainly for his short stories of horror and suspense. He is probably best known for the much-anthologised story "His Unconquerable Enemy" (1889), about the implacable revenge of a servant whose limbs have been amputated on the orders of a cruel rajah.
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12. Kenneth A. Roberts
1912-1989 (aged 77)
politician
military officer
Kenneth Allison Roberts was an American lawyer, World War II veteran and politician who served seven terms as a U.S. representative from Alabama from 1951 to 1965.
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13. Joseph H. Acklen
1850-1938 (aged 88)
lawyer
zoologist
ornithologist
politician
Joseph Hayes Acklen was an American lawyer, plantation owner and politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1878 to 1881.
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14. Elizabeth Futral
1963-. (aged 63)
opera singer
musician
Susan Elizabeth Futral is an American coloratura soprano who has won acclaim (as both singer and actress) throughout the United States as well as in Europe, South America, and Japan.
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15. Eric Motley
1972-. (aged 54)
official
Eric Lamar Motley is the Deputy Director of the National Gallery of Art, located in Washington, D.C.
16. Jody Hunt
1961-. (aged 65)
lawyer
Joseph Harold Hunt is an American lawyer. He was the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice from September 2018 to July 2020.
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17. Dennis A. Ross
1959-. (aged 67)
lawyer
politician
Dennis Alan Ross is an American businessman and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019. A Republican from Florida, his district was numbered as Florida's 12th congressional district during his first two years in Congress, and it was numbered as the 15th district during his last six years in Congress.
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18. Travis Peterson
1985-. (aged 41)
basketball player
Travis James Peterson is an American former professional basketball player who last played for Lietuvos rytas of the Lithuanian League. The 6 foot 10 inch tall center/power forward is a former NCAA Division 1 collegiate athlete. He played five seasons (2003–2008) at Samford University under head coach, Jimmy Tillette, mostly playing the center position. He graduated from Samford in 2008....
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19. Jennifer Pharr Davis
1983-. (aged 43)
writer
Jennifer Pharr Davis is an American long-distance hiker and author. She previously held the record for the fastest known time of hiking the Appalachian Trail, hiking it in 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes in 2011.
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20. Wayne Flynt
1940-. (aged 86)
historian
university teacher
James Wayne Flynt is University Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at Auburn University. He has won numerous teaching awards and been a Distinguished University Professor for many years. His research focuses on Southern culture, Alabama politics, Southern religion, education reform, and poverty. He was the first Editor-in-Chief of the online Encyclopedia of Alabama. Flynt received his Bachelor of...
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21. Phillip Ervin
1992-. (aged 34)
baseball player
Phillip S. Ervin is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican League. Prior to playing professionally, Ervin attended Samford University, where he played college baseball for the Bulldogs. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners.
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22. Deidre Downs
1980-. (aged 46)
physician
model
obstetrician
beauty pageant contestant
Deidre Downs Gunn is an American physician and former beauty pageant titleholder. Downs was Miss Alabama 2004 and later was crowned Miss America 2005.
23. Kevin C. Newsom
1972-. (aged 54)
lawyer
Kevin Christopher Newsom is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
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24. Andrew L. Brasher
1981-. (aged 45)
lawyer
judge
Andrew Lynn Brasher is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. He is a former solicitor general of Alabama.
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25. Mary Anderson
1918-2014 (aged 96)
film actor
actor
television actor
Mary Bebe Anderson was an American actress, who appeared in 31 films and 22 television productions between 1939 and 1965. She was best known for her small supporting role in the film Gone With the Wind as well as one of the main characters in Alfred Hitchcock's 1944 film Lifeboat.
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26. Jim Folsom
1908-1987 (aged 79)
politician
James Elisha "Big Jim" Folsom Sr. was an American politician who served as the 42nd governor of Alabama, having served from 1947 to 1951, and again from 1955 to 1959. He was the first governor of Alabama born in the 20th century.
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27. Bobby Bowden
1929-2021 (aged 92)
head coach
American football player
journalist
Robert Cleckler Bowden was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college football coaches of all time for his accomplishments with the team.
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28. Gail Patrick
1911-1980 (aged 69)
film actor
actor
television producer
Gail Patrick was an American film actress and television producer. Often cast as the bad girl or the other woman, she appeared in more than 60 feature films between 1932 and 1948, notably My Man Godfrey (1936), Stage Door (1937), and My Favorite Wife (1940).
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29. Doug Jones
1954-. (aged 72)
lawyer
actor
politician
prosecutor
Doug Jones is an American actor, contortionist, and mime artist. He is best known for portraying non-human creatures, usually via heavy make-up and visual effects. He has most notably collaborated with acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, appearing in the films Mimic (1997), Hellboy (2004), Pan's Labyrinth (2006), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Crimson Peak (2015), and The Shape of...
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30. John Hall Buchanan, Jr
1928-2018 (aged 90)
politician
John Hall Buchanan Jr. was an American military veteran, clergyman, and politician who served as a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1965 to 1981, representing Alabama's 6th congressional district.
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31. David O. Dykes
1953-2025 (aged 72)
religious figure
David O. Dykes was an American Baptist minister who was Pastor Emeritus and onetime Senior Pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas. He was also the author of several Christian books. Under his leadership Green Acres became "one of the leading churches in America," according to president of the SBC Executive Committee Morris Chapman.
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32. Albert Mohler
1959-. (aged 67)
writer
chancellor
preacher
theologian
Richard Albert Mohler Jr. is an American evangelical theologian, the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and host of the podcast The Briefing, where he gives a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.
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33. Stacey Pickering
1968-. (aged 58)
politician
Stacey Eugene Pickering is from Laurel, Mississippi, United States. He has served as a Mississippi State Senator, as State Auditor of Mississippi, as executive director of the Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board, and in the Mississippi Air National Guard.
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34. R. G. Armstrong
1917-2012 (aged 95)
television actor
stage actor
actor
film actor
Robert Golden Armstrong Jr. was an American character actor and playwright. A veteran performer who appeared in dozens of Westerns during his 40-year career, he may be best remembered for his work with director Sam Peckinpah.
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35. Scott Dawson
1967-. (aged 59)
writer
David Michael Harwood is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Dax Harwood. He is also one-half of the current and record-tying three-time AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR with Cash Wheeler. He also makes appearances in their sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), as well as partner...
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36. Bill Foster
1963-. (aged 63)
politician
William Edwin Foster was the head men's basketball coach at Rutgers University, University of Utah, Duke University, University of South Carolina, and Northwestern University. He is best known for guiding Duke to the NCAA championship game in 1978, and that year he was named national Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Foster was inducted into...
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37. Omar Truman Burleson
1906-1991 (aged 85)
secretary
lawyer
special agent
politician
Omar Truman Burleson was an attorney, judge, FBI agent and veteran of World War II when he was first elected in 1946 as a Democratic U.S. Representative from Texas's 17th congressional district. He was re-elected to Congress from this rural district for more than 30 years, resigning on December 31, 1978 after having decided not to run again for office.
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38. Ed Stetzer
1966-. (aged 60)
writer
editor
Edward John Stetzer is an American author, pastor, and Christian missiologist. He is Dean and Professor of Leadership and Christian Ministry at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. Previously, he served as the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair for Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College. He also serves as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University. Stetzer...
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39. Tony Hale
1970-. (aged 56)
television actor
comedian
voice actor
actor
film actor
Tony Hale is an American actor and comedian. He had a leading role in the Fox series Arrested Development as Buster Bluth, from 2003 to 2019 and was Gary Walsh on the HBO series Veep from 2012 to 2019. For the latter, Hale won the 2013 and 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
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40. Mamoru Shō
1950-. (aged 76)
religious person
Mamoru Shō is an ethnic Ryukyuan businessman who is the current head of the Shō family, the former Ryukyuan royal family. He lives in Ise City, Mie Prefecture.
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