James T. Murfee's tenure as president of Howard College (1871-1887) was exceptional in many ways, not least because Murfee didn't leave the college--the college left him. At 16 years, his service also was of exceptional length. In fact, Murfee's record as Samford's longest-serving president stood until the 1950s. His administration remains the fourth longest in the University's history.
Murfee, a native Virginian and alumnus of Virginia Military Institute became a professor of mathematics at the University of Alabama before the Civil War and served as both a lieutenant colonel of the 41st Alabama Regiment and commandant of the University of Alabama cadet corps. Reconstruction-era politics made Murfee feel unwelcome at UA after the war, so he brought his reputation for academic rigor and military discipline to struggling, debt-ridden Howard College in 1871.
Murfee seems to have thoroughly charmed the people of Marion, and he certainly supplied stable leadership to the college for the first time in over a decade. He revitalized the academic program by creating a new academic structure based on small class size and individual attention and practice, and created a Business School and a School of Military Art and Science within the college.
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