Harold “Dorrell” Briscoe, PhD, DMin

Rev. Dr. Harold “Dorrell” Briscoe is a historian, public theologian, writer, and higher education leader whose work explores the intersection of race, religion, public policy, and liberation theology. Dorrell serves as Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where he oversees the Center for Spiritual Life & Interfaith Engagement. In this role, he provides strategic leadership for the College’s religious, spiritual, and interfaith initiatives, cultivating a campus culture rooted in belonging, moral courage, and rigorous dialogue across difference.

Earlier in his career, Dorrell worked as a minister and across local and state government across Florida, Texas, and Louisiana, focusing on urban planning and neighborhood revitalization. Those experiences sharpened his commitment to public service, activism and continues to inform his scholarship on prophetic religion, and moral leadership.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Florida and a Master of Public Administration from Texas A&M University. He also holds a Doctorate in Religious Leadership from Duke University, where his dissertation—There’s a Storm Comin’—developed adaptive leadership frameworks for religious institutions navigating racial crisis in America. That work later became his bestselling book, There’s A Storm Comin': How the American Church Can Lead Through Times of Racial Crisis, and led to a nationally televised interview on CNN in June 2020.

He earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of Leicester (UK), where his dissertation, Architects of Freedom, examines how four minority members of President Harry Truman’s Committee on Civil Rights helped shape the landmark 1947 report To Secure These Rights. Through archival research and oral histories, his work argues that these often-overlooked figures were central architects of the federal government’s early civil rights agenda, illuminating the relationship between Cold War liberalism, Black political thought, and the expansion of federal power.

In addition to his administrative leadership and scholarship, Dorrell teaches courses on prophetic religion, the Civil Rights Movement, public administration, theomusicology, and cultural memory. He is married to Tracy and is the proud father of Luke, Noah, Amelia, and Ella.

Education

Bachelor of Political Science, BA University of North Florida
Masters of Public Administration, MPA, Texas A&M University
Masters of Theological Studies, MTS, Liberty University
Doctor of Ministry, DMin, Duke University
Doctor of Philosophy, PhD in History, University of Leicester (UK)