Samford University is a private, co-educational institution in Birmingham, Alabama. Focusing on Christ-centered values, it empowers students to achieve ethnical and spiritual strength. Samford is the largest independently supported university in the state, and it has been ranked fifth in the "Best Universities--Master's" list, by U.S. News & World Report. Samford was founded as Howard College, in 1841. It initially faced several adversities, until it was relocated to the East Lake community of Birmingham, in 1887. It became co-educational in 1913, and a member of the Southern Association of Colleges, in 1920. The historic Cumberland School of Law, established in 1847 in Lebanon, Tennessee, formed a part of the institution, beginning in 1951. Later in 1957, the college moved to its present location. Howard achieved university status in 1965, and was renamed Samford University - to honor Frank Park Samford, the institution’s individual benefactor and chairman of the Howard College Board of Trustees. Today, the university includes eight academic units - Howard College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education and Professional Studies, School of Performing Arts, Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Beeson School of Divinity, and Cumberland School of Law. Samford offers associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and professional doctoral degrees, as well as continuing education, and non-degree programs. In addition, special programs such as cooperative education, honors program, international studies, and ROTC are provided. The university’s suburban campus, with its Georgian Colonial architecture, is dotted with numerous academic and recreational facilities. The Samford University Library has a growing collection of print and electronic materials. The Global Center, at Beeson Divinity School, provides an encyclopedic view of more than 2,000 fields of information. The campus also includes the Wright Center Concert Hall and a theater.