William Augustus Bell (1882–1961) was an American businessman, educator, academic administrator, and university president.

William Augustus Bell was born on February 16, 1882, in Elbert County, Georgia, to parents Mary J.

[1][2][4] In 1913, he married Helen Matile Caffey from Charleston, South Carolina, and together they had three children.

[1] Bell went back to Paine College as field secretary in 1930 during the Great Depression, and then was appointed in 1934 secretary of education for the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (now the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church).

[1] He guided Miles College from the brink of bankruptcy following the Great Depression and helped establish a foundation.