ARKADELPHIA, Ark.-An Indiana administrator has been named the new president at Ouachita (WAH'-shih-tah) Baptist University in southern Arkansas.
The university announced Thursday that Ben Sells will become president June 1. Sells now serves as vice president for university advancement at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.
The university says it's the first time in 60 years that a newly selected Ouachita president did not have ties to the school as an alumnus, staff member or trustee. OBU Board of Trustees Chairman Jay Heflin says Sells was picked because of his success at a similar campus in a small-town setting.
Sells succeeds Rex Horne, who resigned as president last year to become president of Arkansas' Independent Colleges and Universities.
Ouachita Baptist is a private, liberal-arts university with an enrollment of about 1,500 students.