The official LinkedIn account for Samford University. Samford University is Alabama’s top-ranked private university with nationally ranked academic programs rooted in the university’s Christian mission. Located in suburban Birmingham, Samford was founded in 1841 and is the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It enrolls 5,206 students from 46 states and 32 countries in 10 academic units: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health.