Thomas Corts

Thomas Edward Corts (born October 7, 1941 in Terre Haute, Indiana - died February 4, 2009) was president of Samford University from 1983 until his retirement in 2006.

Corts grew up in Astabula, Ohio and recieved his bachelor's degree from Georgetown College in Kentucky. He recieved his master's degree and a doctorate in rhetoric from the University of Indiana. From 1974 until his 1983 appointment at Samford, Corts served as the president of Wingate College in Wingate, North Carolina. He was installed on September 1 of that year and served for 23 years before retiring in 2006.

He coordinated the President's Initiative to Expand Education and the basic education efforts of the State Department's Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance on behalf of the George W. Bush administration. He returned to Birmingham from Washington D.C. after the inauguration of Barack Obama.

Corts died at Brookwood Medical Center following a heart attack in February 2009. He was survived by his wife, Marla, three children and six grandchildren.

References

• Thomas E. Corts profile at Samford's website
• Gray, Jeremy (February 4, 2009) "Thomas Corts, former Samford University president and two-year college chancellor, dead at age 67." Birmingham News