Kent State University’s Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs Said Sewell, Ph.D., has been selected as a protégé for the Class of 2014 Millennium Leadership Initiative Institute that is co-sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Sewell was nominated to attend the institute by Christopher Brown, Ph.D., past president of Alcorn State University in Lorman, Miss.; Walter Kimbrough, Ph.D., president of Dillard University in New Orleans; Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; and F. Carl Walton, vice president of student services at Lincoln University in Chester County, Pa. Sewell will attend the institute from June 7-10 in Washington, D.C.
The American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Millennium Leadership Initiative is a premier leadership development program that provides individuals traditionally underrepresented in the highest ranks of higher education the opportunity to develop skills, gain a philosophical overview and build the network needed to advance to the presidency.
The Millennium Leadership Initiative prepares, enhances and advances the prospect of protégés to compete successfully for executive positions in higher education, such as president or chancellor at public or private universities or colleges. Protégés learn from an esteemed team that includes college presidents and chancellors, and other experts in media relations, advancement, financial management and more.
“I am humbled to have been nominated for the Millennium Leadership Institute,” Sewell said. “I look forward to learning from and engaging with fellow protégés and senior leaders from various institutions across the country. This professional development opportunity is a way of expanding my understanding of issues in higher education. I fully intend to use that which I will learn to enhance the projects that I am involved with at Kent State.”
Sewell, a native of Houston, Texas, joined Kent State in 2012 as dean of undergraduate studies and was appointed assistant provost for academic affairs that same year. He previously served as executive director of the Academic Success Center and associate professor of political science at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Ga. Prior to that, Sewell was an associate professor of political science and planning at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Ga.
He entered Morehouse College at the age of 16 in 1988, excelled academically and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He received his Master of Public Administration in public policy from Texas Southern University at the age of 21, becoming the youngest person in the program’s history to complete all the requirements for the degree in a year and a half. He continued his academic pursuits in Georgia by earning a Ph.D. in political science from Clark Atlanta University in 2001. Sewell also has done post-graduate work at the Harvard School of Divinity.
Sewell is the author of several articles on faith-based initiatives, community and economic development, religion and politics, and juvenile issues. He also is completing work on two forthcoming books titled “Empowering Black Males Students to Greatness” and “Let Us Make Man: A Conversation with Black Men on Saving Black Boys.” He also is co-author of “Georgia State Politics” and the editor of two American government readers: “Conflicting Democracy: A Critical Analysis of America’s Political Process” and “We the People: Reflections on American Politics.” He is recipient of several awards that recognize his work as a scholar and exceptional professor.
Sewell, who has been mentioned as one of America’s rising young leaders for the 21st century, is active in several professional, civic and social organizations. He is a life member and the former national chairman of Leadership Development Institute for his fraternity, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and a member of the 100 Black Men of America.
For more information about Kent State, visit www.kent.edu.
For more information about the Millennium Leadership Initiative Institute, visit www.aascu.org/MLI.
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Media Contact:
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595