Biography- Said Sewell, Ph.D., CFRM
President Said Sewell 
Biography
Said Sewell, Ph.D., CFRM is the eleventh president of Morris College, assuming office on July 1, 2024 after a national search. His goals are to increase enrollment, enhance student success, support faculty and staff development, foster a vibrant campus life, raise funds, and strengthen the College's reputation.
Dr. Sewell previously served as the director of the Office of Academics, Research, and Student Success for the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUCC), the nation's oldest and largest consortium of historically Black colleges and universities. In this role, Sewell provided leadership coordination for the academic affairs, student affairs, and sponsored research divisions of Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Spelman College. His work included the development and advancement of intercollegiate academic and student success-focused initiatives as well as leadership of the AUCC’s Dual Degree Engineering Program and its Office of Career Services. He also served as the principal facilitator for the Consortium's Council of Academic Affairs, Council of Chief Student Affairs Officers, Council of Sponsored Program Directors, Council of Registrars, and Council of Chief Information Officers. In addition, he coordinated governmental affairs staff initiatives to advocate for federal policies that help strengthen the work of public universities and support the students they serve and represented the AUCC as the liaison with other higher education associations and national organizations that work collaboratively on federal higher education policies.
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 directors for the Center for African-American Males: Research, Success, and Leadership Inc., a research and modeling center for the advancement of African-American males. He is also the past vice president for the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, and the former national chairman of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.'s Leadership Development Institute. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Leadership Portage County, the Board of Directors for Project GRAD-Akron, the College Board’s National College Scholarship Service Assembly Council, the Charles Wesley Foundation-Rho Pi Lambda Chapter, Boys and Girls Club of America, the 100 Black Men, NAACP, and is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.
Dr. Sewell has received numerous awards based on his scholarship and civic service, including the University of System of Georgia’s African-American Male Initiative Best Practices Leadership Award, the Doris Harris Humanitarian Award from the Tau Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the Visionary Award from the Follow Me Foundation, Inc., the Eta Tau Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.’s Leadership Award, the National Conference of Black Political Scientists’ Teacher of the Year Award, the University of West Georgia’s Student Government Association’s Jim Mathis Outstanding Faculty Member, the American Political Science Association/ Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society’s Outstanding Teaching Award in Political Science, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.’s Southern Region Brother of the Year Award. In addition, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education named him as 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.
A native of Houston, Texas, Sewell entered Morehouse College in 1988 and graduated in 1992 with a bachelor’s in political science. He also holds a master of public administration in public policy from Texas Southern University and a doctorate from Clark Atlanta University in political science. Sewell’s fellowships include: Senior Fellow at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities; University System of Georgia 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 and TV-One, Chronicle of Higher Education, Diverse Issues, Black Enterprise, and Ebony Magazine.