Penegar served on the faculties of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the University of Tennessee (Dean for fifteen years), and Southern Methodist University (Dallas), where he holds emeritus status. Penegar received his education from the Universities of North Carolina (Chapel Hill); Yale; and London (London School of Economics & Political Science). His previous book, The Political Trial of Benjamin Franklin, was published by Algora in 2011. Other professional activities have included appointments as visiting faculty at Delhi University (India) under a grant from the Ford Foundation; visiting faculty at Boston University; and a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School.