Office of the President

Dr. Ben R. Sells, who has served since June 2016 as Ouachita Baptist University’s 16th president, is passionate about advancing Christian higher education.

Affirming his vision for Ouachita’s ongoing growth and impact, President Sells declared,

“We deeply desire for our students to grow spiritually and intellectually so they can find meaningful work and reasonably engage the world through their families, churches, communities and careers over the course of their lives.”

Dr. Sells holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., and two degrees, a Master of Arts and a PhD in higher and adult education, from the University of Missouri in Columbia. As an undergraduate, he participated in the Oxford Overseas Study Program and in 2012 he earned a certificate from Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management.

With extensive leadership experience in higher education, fundraising and missions involvement, Dr. Sells previously served more than nine years as vice president for university advancement at Taylor University in Upland, Ind.

Other higher education experience includes serving as vice president for admissions and student life and director of university ministries at Southwest Baptist University and as an English instructor at Huaiyin Teachers College in China. He also has served as senior vice president of development for Enactus, coordinator of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board’s International Learning Center and director of the IMB’s International Centre for Excellence in Leadership

Sells is active in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and the Arkansas Independent Colleges and Universities. He serves on the Board of the Arkadelphia Regional Economic Development Alliance and the Malone Child Safety Center. In 2019, Sells was selected for Arkansas’ 250 Most Influential Leaders by the Arkansas Business Publishing Group

Dr. Sells and his wife, Lisa, are the parents of four adult children.