Rolando Herts, PhD

RESEARCH FELLOW, He/Him

Dr. Herts is a university-community tourism engagement scholar who is committed to stimulating diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultural heritage development with regional, national, and international collaborators. Currently, he serves as director of The Delta Center for Culture and Learning and executive director of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area (MS Delta NHA) at Delta State University.  

Dr. Herts has developed collaborations between Delta State and the National Park Service, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Humanities Alliance, Mississippi Delta Blues Festival Brazil, and various tourism bureaus, museums, and arts organizations throughout the Mississippi Delta. He serves on governing boards for the Alliance of National Heritage Areas and the Association of African American Museums.  

 Dr. Herts holds a Ph.D. in planning and public policy from Rutgers University, an M.A. in Social Science from The University of Chicago, and a B.A. in English from Morehouse College. As an Executive Academy Fellow with the Delta Regional Authority’s Delta Leadership Institute, he was awarded an executive education certificate in authentic leadership from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Expertise: University-community partnerships; Regional and African American cultural heritage development; Events and festival tourism; Grants management and legislative advocacy for cultural heritage development

Contact: rherts@deltastate.edu

Selected publications: 

Herts, R., et al. 2021. “Racial Equity, Community Empowerment, and Social Cohesion: Sociocultural Impacts of National Heritage Areas.” Alliance of National Heritage Areas position paper.

 Herts, R. 2019. "Interpreting an American Soundscape: Mississippi, The Birthplace of America's Music," Legacy magazine, National Association for Interpretation, Nov/Dec issue

Herts, R., et al. 2017. Delta Jewels Oral History Partnership 2015-2016 Report, The Delta Center for Culture and Learning, Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, National Park Service, and Delta Jewels Support Foundation.

Herts, R. 2013. “From Outreach to Engaged Placemaking: Understanding Public Land-grant University Involvement with Tourism Planning and Development.” Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. Volume 17(1). 

 Current Grant-Funded Projects:

 National Park Foundation Strategic Growth Initiative, MS Delta NHA Organizational Review and Strategic Plan Project, PI: 2021-2022 ($35,000 in kind technical assistance)

National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History K-12 educator workshops, Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, History, and Culture of the Mississippi Delta, PI: 2015 – 2022 ($2 million)

National Park Service, MS Delta NHA project, PI: 2014 – present ($3 million, 2010 - 2021)

Mississippi Development Authority, MS Delta NHA project, PI: 2014 – present ($950,000 total, 2010 - 2021)