ICYMI: OBU trustees unanimously elected Dr. Ben R. Sells as Ouachita’s sixteenth president on April 7, 2016. He was chosen after a nine-month search process led by Ouachita’s search committee and officially began his tenure on June 1.
But—who is Dr. Sells?
Since he’s the first presidential hire in over 60 years with no previous ties to Ouachita, it’s understandable if the name Sells doesn’t ring any bells.
Here’s a brief introduction.
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Although new to Ouachita, Dr. Sells is not new to higher education.
“I grew up in a college president’s home. My father was the president of Southwest Baptist University. From the time I was 5 until I finished college—and that’s where I went to college—I grew up around Christian higher education…and watched my dad do what he did, and there was a part of me that said, ‘I like that. I might be interested in that,’” Dr. Sells said. “So like a lot of people, you’re influenced by your parents and their vocation, so that was certainly very formative.”
Sells completed his Bachelor of Science degree at SBU, then went on to earn his Master of Arts and PhD in higher and adult education from the University of Missouri in Columbia.
But before we get too ahead of ourselves—there was a milestone moment his senior year of undergraduate school that is probably worth mentioning.
“Five of us one night, in February 1984, found ourselves in a prayer chapel, saying, ‘we really feel challenged by the Lord to live more faithfully to the Lord,’ and that led to — we didn’t know what to do next. We said, ‘well, let’s get together the next day.’ For the next 100 days we met almost every day, and it was just a deeply spiritual time, and then as a result of that, two of us came to the conclusion that maybe after we graduate we should stay and work with students. And about two weeks from graduation [I said], ‘well we both want to do this, why don’t we get married?’ We had never dated,” Dr. Sells said. “And three months later, we got married.”
The newlyweds spent the following two years working on campus with students like they had said, as that desire was what drew them together.
Later, in 1986, the couple moved to China to teach English for a year, where Dr. Sells says he “developed a love for all things Chinese.”
After making his way back to the states, he completed graduate school, returned to his alma mater (SBU) as vice president for admissions and student life and was ultimately recruited by the International Mission Board. The IMB is a part of the Southern Baptist Convention that “partners with churches to empower limitless missionary teams who are making disciples and multiplying churches among unreached peoples and places for the glory of God.”
With IMB, he spent the next seven years traveling the globe, helping missionaries become more effective leaders in the field, starting and directing its International Centre for Excellence in Leadership.
In a few years shy of a decade, Dr. Sells made the rounds to 35 countries. Regarding the cuisine he tried from various nations, he said, “I like everything. I will try almost anything…once.”
He noted that the most powerful lesson he learned while abroad was from a mentor who told him: “good missionaries are learners, not knowers.”
“They try to understand the culture and the language and the customs—and so I’m trying to do that at Ouachita,” Dr. Sells said. “I am an outsider. …I’m not an alumnus, I have no connection; [I’m the] first outsider in 60 years. So part of what I’ve had to do is, ‘well, what is the culture? The language? The traditions?’”
So, how did Dr. Sells and Ouachita appear on each other’s radars?
After a fulfilling seven years equipping missionaries abroad, he still felt the strong pull toward higher education that he felt as a kid and throughout his own collegiate and graduate years.
He spent some time working at the headquarters of ENACTUS, “an international nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring students to improve the world through entrepreneurial action,” and though he was fulfilling part of his dream by working on campuses with college students, he longed to be at a Christian university.
Fortunately, an executive recruiter for Taylor University in Indiana recruited Dr. Sells to be the VP for development.
After over nine years of what he refers to as “a really good run,” a Taylor colleague notified him of an opportunity at a similar small Christian school in Arkansas.
“I was drawn to the mission of Ouachita, the approach of Ouachita, the history really drew me,” Dr. Sells said. For the rest, well, refer to the first paragraph.
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As Dr. Sells and his wife, Lisa, settle into Arkadelphia life, he’s noticed a thermal difference between Indiana and Arkansas.
“Our dog pants a lot more in the summer here,” he joked. Dr. Sells enjoys walking their dog, Faith, along Feaster Trail.
In addition to their pup, the Sells have three married adult children and one fifteen-year-old. He said the most gratifying aspect of parenthood is watching their kids go on to lead meaningful lives.
“It’s fun to watch your children become adults. Every stage is rewarding, but I think the conversation changes…they’re their own person,” Dr. Sells said. “And just to see, ‘what are they like? What is the Lord doing through them and in them?’”
In October, they will be first-time grandparents. Currently, the pair is discussing what each want to be called.
“At the end of the day, it probably depends on what the grandchildren call you,” Dr. Sells said.
In the meantime, he’s been gearing up for his first academic year as president, visiting with alumni and their families, touring the campus and absorbing as much Ouachitonian culture as he can.
“I’ve just found incredible network, connection…they really love this school, whether they’re a student now, or a faculty member who has stayed, or staff member for a long time, or certainly an alumnus who is looking back with the benefit of time,” Dr. Sells said.
In just a few months, Dr. Sells has grown so fond of Ouachita, and he has a clear mission for the university’s progress.
“The journey I’m on,” Dr. Sells said, “is asking two questions: what should not change, and what should change?”
To find these answers, his team has created a website, www.surveymonkey.com/r/largerdream, which asks those very questions. Students, alumni, faculty and staff are all encouraged to go online and take this survey so that he can find themes of what aspects of Ouachita need to be left untouched and which ones need to be enhanced or altered.
Dr. Sells explained that these suggestions will help his team develop a plan to make the necessary changes and achieve the “larger dream” for Ouachita.
“This is going to lead to next fall, we’ll announce a 5-year strategic plan,” Dr. Sells said.
Some already-known goals in this larger dream include increasing the student population size to about 1,750-2,000 and adding new programs like nursing.
“Part of what has to change is [to] ask, ‘what [do] today’s and tomorrow’s world look like? What are students interested in?’” Dr. Sells said.
Dr. Sells looks forward to partnering with students and employees of Ouachita to discover these solutions.
But that’s not the only thing he has been anticipating.
Dr. Sells said he was looking forward to Tigers and Torches, which took place on August 21, because as a “freshman,” he hoped for a beanie.
And hopefully, now, you feel a little more acquainted with our sixteenth president.
By: Barrett Gay, Editor-In-Chief
