John Sellars

Sellars was born and raised in Independence, Missouri and received his bachelor's degree from University of Central Missouri. He continued his education at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, where he received a master's degree in public administration in 1986 and a Ph.D. in 1992. His post-graduate studies include the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University and the Strategic Planning and Higher Education Marketing program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

In June 2006, Sellars was one 80 presidents of American colleges and universities to participate in the Council of Europe forum “Higher Education and Democratic Culture: Citizenship, Human Rights and Civic Responsibility.” The forum brought together 300 American and European leaders in government policy and higher education to discuss how higher education can support emerging democracies.

In 2005, Sellars became the 15th president of Drury University, though his tenure ended abruptly after he announced the school was millions of dollars in debt, initiated a re-examination of the university's mission, and appeared to squelch academic freedom following a controversial interview by a faculty member.[1] On April 23, 2007, facing a likely vote of no confidence from the faculty, Sellars resigned.[2][3]

One month later, on May 24, 2007, Sellars was named president of Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, effective July 15.[4] In 2016, the university announced that Sellars would retire in July, 2017.[5] He was succeeded by Patricia Draves, who formerly served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio.[6]