Alabama Baptists lost “a giant of a Christian leader” Feb. 4 when Thomas E. Corts, president emeritus of Samford University in Birmingham, died unexpectedly of a heart attack.
Corts, 67, served Samford for 23 years before retiring in 2006, exuding what his contemporaries called a “contagious example” and “visionary leadership.” During his tenure, he awarded more than 17,000 diplomas to Samford graduates.
“There is no way to measure the impact of Tom Corts’ life and ministry on this university and the thousands of lives whom he touched,” said Samford President Andrew Westmoreland, who succeeded Corts at Samford in June of 2006. “We have all lost a great friend.”
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, agreed, affirming not only Corts’ leadership at Samford but also his “significant impact” on countless Baptists across the state.
“Alabama Baptists join the Corts family in grieving the passing of a man who truly embodied a Christlike spirit and was the personification of a Christian gentleman,” Lance said.
Corts had returned to his Birmingham home in January from Washington after serving the George W. Bush administration as coordinator of The President’s Initiative to Expand Education and subsequently as coordinator of basic education in the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance. The program provides aid to 4 million schoolchildren in Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, Liberia, Mali and Yemen.
He previously served as chairman of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and president of SACS and the American Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities. He also served as executive director of the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities. Corts held leadership positions in other education organizations as well.
“His dignity, his wisdom, his integrity and his insight shaped not only Samford University but set a standard for higher education in our state and beyond through his leadership in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools,” said Mark Foley, president of the University of Mobile. “We will miss him.”
David Potts, president of Judson College, said Corts was among the “greatest college presidents of his generation.”
“He taught me about faith, forthrightness, fairness, genuine quality, integrity and devotion to family,” Potts said.
Rob Saliterman, communications director for Bush, said the former president and first lady, Laura Bush, extended prayers to the Corts family.
“His commitment to education for all people characterized his sense of charity and civic responsibility,” Saliterman said. “Dr. Corts was a man of integrity and a great contributor to President Bush’s administration.”
During Corts’ tenure at Samford, the university revived its football program; started the London Study Centre; founded Beeson Divinity School, the first divinity school on the campus of a Southern Baptist university; opened a science facility with a planetarium; and made many more campus improvements.
He was active on the national Baptist scene as well, serving for more than 20 years with the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). At the time of his death, Corts was a member of the BWA General Council, the Study and Research Executive Committee and the Academic and Theological Education Workgroup and vice chair of the Commission on Baptist Heritage and Identity.
Born in Terre Haute, Ind., Corts grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio. He graduated from Georgetown College in Kentucky and held master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana University in Bloomington. After serving as an administrator at Georgetown, he was named president of Wingate College in North Carolina in 1974, serving until his election as Samford president nine years later.
A member of Brookwood Baptist Church, Mountain Brook, Corts is survived by Marla, his wife of 44 years; two married daughters; a married son; and six grandchildren. (TAB)
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