Engel served on the faculty, as a professor and lecturer, at
University of California, Los Angeles, at
North Carolina State University, at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and at
Duke University. He authored several books published in
England,
Japan,
Turkey, and the United States, including
A Dab of Dickens & A Touch of Twain (Simon & Schuster) - an edited collection of several of his well-known lectures, and
Pickwick Papers: An Annotated Bibliography. Engel's mini-lecture series on Charles Dickens ran on
PBS Television stations around the country. Four of Engel's plays were produced. Engel's play,
The Night Before Christmas Carol, enjoyed success as an annual national public television broadcast in both the United States and Canada, an EbzB Productions' performance with actor
David zum Brunnen, and had touring success nationally with the same actor. The premiere collaboration of
The Night Before Christmas Carol featured actor Jeffrey West, who originated the role on stages in North Carolina. Engel's articles appeared in multiple newspapers and national magazines including
Newsweek. He lectured throughout the United States and on all seven continents, delivering an Antarctica lecture on a cruise ship. Widely recognized for his concentration in Dickensian Scholarship, Engel received North Carolina’s Adult Education Award, North Carolina State’s Alumni Professorship, and
The Victorian Society’s Award of Merit. In 2009, he was inducted into the
Royal Society of Arts in England for his academic work and service in promoting
Charles Dickens. In 2014, Engel was named
Tar Heel of the Week by the
News and Observer for his thirty years of delivering public programs in the humanities and sponsoring state and national literary contests for high school students. Since 1980, Engel has been President of the
Dickens Fellowship of North Carolina, the largest branch of this worldwide network of clubs. The sales of his books, CDs, and DVDs have raised funds for
Great Ormond Street Hospital, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children, which Dickens helped found in London in 1852. == Personal life ==