Morris College

Said Sewell, Ph.D., CFRM is the 11th president of Morris College in Sumter, South Carolina. With over two decades in higher education, his leadership has driven improvements in fundraising, enrollment, operations, academic quality, and student success.

Dr. Sewell served as director of academics, research, and student success for the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUCC), providing leadership across academic, student, and research initiatives at Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Spelman College. He advanced intercollegiate academic and student success programs, led the Dual Degree Engineering Program and Career Services, and facilitated councils supporting academic, student, and research leadership. He coordinated advocacy for federal higher education policies and collaborated with national associations.

Prior to Sewell joining AUCC, he served as the vice president for student affairs at Morehouse College and as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs (i.e., chief operating officer) at Lincoln University in Missouri. Sewell has also served as the assistant provost for academic affairs and dean of undergraduate studies at Kent State University in Ohio, and as the acting assistant vice president for academic affairs and executive director of the Academic Success Center at Fort Valley State University. His faculty appointments include positions in the political science departments at Lincoln University, the University of West Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Nebraska, Fort Valley State University, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Albany State University.

Dr. Sewell is the founder, executive director, and chairman of the board of the Center for African-American Males: Research, Success, and Leadership Inc. He is a former vice president of the Georgia State NAACP and national chairman of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.’s Leadership Development Institute. He serves on multiple boards, including Leadership Portage County and Project GRAD-Akron. He is active in organizations such as Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Boys and Girls Club of America, and 100 Black Men.

A native of Houston, Texas, President Sewell began college at 16 and graduated from Morehouse College in 1992 with a B.A. in political science. He earned a Master of Public Administration in Public Policy from the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. He later obtained a Ph.D. in Political Science from Clark Atlanta University. Sewell also completed the Certificate in Fundraising Management at Indiana University’s Lilly School of Philanthropy. He attended leadership institutes at Harvard University, Clark Atlanta University, AASCU, and HELF.

Sewell’s fellowships include: Senior Fellow at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU); University System of Georgia (USG) Executive Fellow to Columbus State University; Harvard University Fellow at the Schools of Graduate Education, Divinity and the Kennedy School of Government; Visiting Faculty Fellow at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s Department of Political Science, and Research Fellow at the James (Jimmy) Earl Carter Presidential Library’s Interfaith Health Program.

Dr. Sewell has co-authored three books: Georgia State Politics, Conflicting Democracy: A Critical Analysis of America’s Political Process, and We the People: Reflections on American Politics. He is currently completing work on two books: Empowering Black Male Students to Greatness and Let Us Make Man: A Conversation with Black Men on Saving Black Boys. He has delivered over 50 presentations at conferences and professional meetings nationwide. Sewell and his work have been featured on CNN, Larry King Live, TV-One, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, Black Enterprise, and Ebony Magazine.

Because of his work as a scholar and professor, Sewell has received numerous awards. They include the 2024 President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Service from President Joseph R. Biden, the Morehouse College Board of Preachers for Rev. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., International College of Preachers and Laity, University System of Georgia’s AAMI Best Practices Leadership Award, the National Conference of Black Political Scientists Teacher of the Year Award, and the Brother of the Year Award for the Southern Region-Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. In addition, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education named him a Top 12 Emerging Scholar in America, and Georgia Trend Magazine acknowledged him in its “Top 40 under 40: Georgia’s Best and Brightest” list.

President Sewell is an ordained Baptist minister and a member of the Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church. He is active in several professional, civic, social, and fraternal organizations, such as the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the Rotary Club of Sumter – Gamecock City, and The Good Fellows. Sewell serves on several boards, including the UNFC’s Board of Directors, the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities’ Board of Trustees, The LINK (Economic Development)’s Board of Directors, Georgia State University’s Rialto Performing Arts Center, the Gold Star Educational Foundation, and the Center for African American Males.