and served as the Director of the Holy Spirit Research Center at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For twelve years, from 1994 to 2006, he served as the Dean of the Regent University School of Divinity. Under his leadership the School of Divinity implemented both a Doctorate of Ministry and a non-residential and on-line PhD program in Renewal Studies, which was the first of its kind in the world. In 2006, Synan stepped down as Dean to serve part-time as Professor of Pentecostal and Charismatic History and Dean Emeritus of Regent University. In 2016, Synan moved back to Oklahoma to re-join the faculty at Oral Roberts University as a Scholar in Residence at Oral Roberts University where he worked closely with William M. Wilson, the president of ORU and global co-chair of Empowered21. Personal life On August 13, 1960, he married Carol Lee Fuqua from Richmond, Virginia. Reflecting on the day he met her as a young evangelist preaching at a summer youth camp, he described her as "a dark-haired beauty whose smile seemed to light up the entire room." Together they had four children: Mary Carol (1961), Virginia Lee (1963), Harold Vinson Jr. (1966), and Joseph Alexander III (1968). Synan died March 15, 2020. Writing In 1963, Synan began his teaching career in history at Emmanuel College. It was at this time the school also asked him to write the school's official history. Synan had known G. F. Taylor, the widow of the founder of the college, when he was a student in the 1950s, and since he was a faculty member, research of the school's history was readily accessible. In 1969, the school published his research as a fundraiser for the school's 50th anniversary under the title Emmanuel College: The First Fifty Years. Synan's entire life was shaped by his involvement in the Pentecostal Holiness Church. His father became a preacher twelve years before Synan was born, served in several pastorates during Synan's early years and later served as chairman, presiding bishop and general superintendent of the church. His father was also one of the founding fathers of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1943. As a son of the denomination and a professionally trained historian, Synan was commissioned to write the official history of his PHC. The Old Time Power was published in 1973, the same year Synan assumed the position as General Secretary for his