Here is a brief biographical sketch:

Herbert L. Rosedale, a graduate of Columbia College (1953) and Columbia Law School (LL.B., Phi Beta Kappa, Columbia Law Review, 1956) and Of Counsel with Jenkens & Gilchrist Parker Chapin, LLP, was one of the nation's leading authorities on cults.

He first became involved in cult issues in the late 1970s, when he assisted citizens concerned about the Unification Church's ("the Moonies") attempt to buy a large property in Chappaqua. This was the first of countless pro bono services that have benefited thousands of people during the past 25 years. 

He represented or advised clergy, ex-members, families, professionals, and others involved in cult-related suits.  He spent thousands of hours over the years advising families, former group members, and helping professionals, sometimes even going into his office on weekends to meet with people.

He helped former cult members obtain marriage annulments and return of their property.  He was counsel for the New York City Jewish Community Relations Council Task Force on Cults and Missionaries and the New York Interfaith Coalition of Concern About Cults.

Since 1988 he served as president of the American Family Foundation (AFF), the leading professional research and educational organization in this field. He wrote papers or chapters for Recovery from Cults (Norton), Cultic Studies Journal, Cultic Studies Review, and the Cult Observer.  He was co-editor of The Boston Movement: Critical Perspectives on the International Churches of Christ (American Family Foundation).

He has been interviewed widely by the national and international press and has spoken to hundreds of lay and professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the New School in New York City, Columbia University School of Journalism, and the Association of Private Enterprise Education.

He has testified to congressional committees.

In 1992 he was Executive in Residence at the School of Business, Indiana University.

In 1995 he delivered a commencement address to the graduating class of the State University of New York's Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome, "Promises and Illusions" (printed in Cultic Studies Journal, vol. 11, no. 2). 

In 2002 he was a guest lecturer on cult issues at universities and institutions in China.

A man of intellect and kindness, he emphasized the need to dialogue with those who hold different opinions, including members of cultic groups, to study the phenomenon professionally, to educate people so that they become more informed consumers in the marketplace of ideas, and to offer support and assistance to the individuals and families victimized by psychologically and spiritually abusive groups.