Father Powell attended the Universities of Dayton and Wisconsin, the Aquinas Institute, and Miami University. While at these colleges, he received B.S. and M.A. degrees for Speech and Drama, an M.A. for Theology, and a Ph.D. for Theatre. He was ordained in 1975 and assigned to Providence College in 1983. In the fall of 1987 he became an Assistant Professor for Theatre Arts. Since then, he has published The Christmas Crche: Treasure of Faith, Art, & Theatre and God Off-Broadway: The Blackfriars Theatre of New York, which was nominated in 1999 for the George Freedley Memorial Award, and Performing Parables: Religious Folk Tales, Legends and Fables for Readers' Theatre. Courses that Father Powell teaches at Providence College are Theatre Appreciation, Oral Interpretation, History of Theatre Production, Public Speaking, Readings in Dramatic Lit, and 20th Century American Drama.