The Reverend Dr. Robert Carol Emerson was born in Gloucester, Virginia on April 29, 1935, to Rebecca Oliver and George Emerson. His family moved to York County, Virginia where he went to Poquoson High School. After a long break after graduation, he got the call to be a minister and prepared for his professional career at Carson-Newman College, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and The Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. Upon his ordination, he served as the minister of Spring Hill Baptist Church in Cobbs Creek. A few years later, he received a call to preach at DeBaun Memorial Baptist Church in Chesapeake. After a five-year ministry at his second church, he felt another vocation similar to the tentmakers and decided he would return to the family trade of brick masonry.Dr. Joseph Emerson is a career educator. His research interests include the politics of education reform, adolescent political socialization, and the role of religious faith in cultivating personal leadership capacities. His previously published work includes a doctoral dissertation on educational interest groups, numerous policy papers, and a variety of published fiction centered around liberal religion and gay liberation.