Published on July 23, 2025 at 6 a.m.  
Alumni Awards Quadrant2
Clockwise from top left: Pete Hanna, Tony Hale, Rod Marshall and Samantha Berrien.

 

Samford University selected four distinguished individuals as its 2025 alumni award recipients. The honorees will be celebrated during Homecoming weekend Nov. 7-8. 

The awards are presented in four categories: Alumnus of the Year, Outstanding Young Alumnus of the Year,  Humanitarian of the Year, and Philanthropist of the Year. Nominations from across the Samford community are reviewed annually by the Samford University Alumni Association awards committee.

Alumnus of the Year

Tony Hale ’92 earned his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism/Mass Communication from Howard College of Arts and Sciences.

Hale garnered major acclaim for his portrayal of Gary Walsh on HBO’s Veep, winning two Primetime Emmys and earning four additional nominations during the show’s eight-year run. Those roles also earned Hale a combined eight nominations for the Screen Actors Guild awards. His character Buster Bluth stood out among an ensemble cast in the sitcom Arrested Development, which ran for five seasons across Fox and Netflix.

Hale voiced characters in Toy Story 4 and Inside Out 2, part of a filmography that spans 65 movies.

The Alumnus of the Year award honors Samford University graduates of true distinction in their careers, making significant contributions through their professions. The honoree is widely known and acknowledged as a person of national or global distinction who displays substantial leadership and embodies the Samford University mission.

Outstanding Young Alumna of the Year

Samantha Berrien ’16, DNP ’25 received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice from Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing.

After working as a registered nurse and medical surgical nurse, Berrien has served as a skills lab educator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing since 2021.

She founded a nonprofit, Bright Rose, Inc., which provides psychological and academic support and mentoring to students from nursing programs in Alabama and surrounding states.

Berrien leads the mentorship program for the Birmingham Black Nurses Association, frequently making state and national presentations about success strategies and behavioral health support initiatives for nursing students.

 The Outstanding Young Alumnus of the Year award honors alumni between the ages of 21 and 39 who have made significant contributions through their professional careers, display true distinction in leadership and embody the Samford University mission.

Humanitarian of the Year

Rod Marshall ’87, the honoree for Humanitarian of the Year, earned his Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Howard College of Arts and Sciences.

For the past 13 years he has served as the president and CEO of Alabama Baptist Children's Homes & Family Ministries, an organization he joined in 1995 to assist in launching a statewide counseling ministry. That grew into Pathways Professional Counseling, a crucial outreach of ABCH for which Marshall became director in 1999.

ABCH served 460 children in 2024 and aspires to grow to 1,000 children— representing around 20% of Alabama’s foster children population—by 2031. 

As a licensed professional counselor, board-certified counseling supervisor, registered play therapist, national certified counselor and a board-certified professional Christian counselor, Marshall has devoted his career focus to child care and helping families seek contentment through God’s healing.

The Humanitarian of the Year award honors Samford University graduates of true distinction, wide respect and acknowledged leadership. Nominees embody the mission of Samford University and are recognized for giving selflessly and working tirelessly to better the lives of others and society at large.

Philanthropist of the Year

The late Pete Hanna, a Samford alumnus and lifelong supporter, becomes the first recipient of a new award, Philanthropist of the Year.

Hanna’s name adorns Samford’s football stadium and basketball arena, a tribute to his long history of supporting scholarships and campus projects. While infusing Christian principles into his family business, Hanna Steel, he prioritized a life of charitable kindness. Hanna frequently made anonymous donations attributed simply to “John 3:16,” seeking to spread the Gospel without self-recognition.

Hanna played halfback, center and linebacker on Samford’s football teams from 1955-1958, amid the university relocating from East Lake to its current campus in Homewood. He served for many years as a member of the Samford University Board of Trustees.

Hanna passed away May 25 at age 88.

The Philanthropist of the Year award honors a Samford University constituent who has made significant impact through generosity to the university and embodies its mission.

MORE: Previous alumni award recipients 
 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.