Said L. Sewell, Ph. D.

Dr. Said L. Sewell, who has been mentioned as one of the nation’s thought-leaders in higher education, has worked in higher education for more than 20 years.

He currently serves as a Director at the Atlanta University Center Consortium, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to Sewell joining the A.U.C.C., the world’s oldest and largest association of historically Black colleges and universities, he was the Vice President for Student Affairs at Morehouse College. He has also served as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lincoln University in Missouri, the Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Kent State University (Kent, OH), and the Executive Director of the Academic Success Center at the Fort Valley State University. He has had faculty appointments in the Political Science Departments at the Lincoln University, University of West Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Nebraska, Fort Valley State University, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Albany State University. Sewell is the founder and current Executive Director of the Center for African-American Males: Research, Success, and Leadership, Inc.-a research and modeling center for the advancement of African-American males.

Sewell, a native of Houston, Texas, entered Morehouse College at the age of 16 and graduated in 1992 with a B.A. in political science. His formal training also includes a Master of Public Administration in Public Policy from Texas Southern University and a Ph. D. from Clark Atlanta University (C.A.U.) in Political Science. Sewell’s fellowships include: Senior Fellow at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (A.A.S.C.U.), Higher Education Leadership Foundation, The University System of Georgia Executive Fellow to Columbus State University, Harvard University Fellow at the Schools of Graduate Education, Divinity, and 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. While he 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 Males Students to Greatness and Let Us Make Man: A Conversation with Black Men on Saving Black Boys. Sewell has delivered over 50 presentations at conferences and professional meetings nationwide. His research has appeared in Race, Gender, & Class, The Quest: Journal of Higher Education Excellence, Challenge Journal: A Journal of Research on African-American Men, The Journal of Southern Rural Sociology, Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, The North Star: Journal of African American Religious History, The National Political Science Review and the Journal Southern Religion as well as he has contributed entries to the Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics. Sewell has been featured on CNN, Larry King Live, and Today Show along with appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, Black Enterprise, Ebony Magazine, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Because of his work as a scholar and renowned professor, he has been honored with his own day in Madison County (Georgia), Fulton County (Georgia), the City of Stone Mountain (Georgia), and Atlanta (Georgia), as well as numerous awards: 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, and the American Political Science Association and the Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society’s Outstanding Teaching Award in Political Science, and in the Southern Region for the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.’ s Brother of the Year, to name a few. In addition, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education named him as its—Top 12 Emerging Scholars in America and Georgia Trend Magazine acknowledged him as one of its —Top 40 under 40: Georgia’s Best and Brightest.

Sewell, who is an ordained Baptist minister, is active in several professional, civic, and social organizations. He is Chair of the Board of Directors for the Center for African-American Males: Research, Success, and Leadership, Inc., Past First Vice President for the Georgia State Conference of the N.A.A.C.P., and the Former National Chairman of the Leadership Development Institute for the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Dr. Sewell is a Member of the Board of Directors for Leadership Portage County, the Board 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, the N.A.A.C.P., and a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.