Dr Donald Lancaster

About me:

Professor Donald Lancaster is Programme Director for The Exeter MBA - inspiring leaders for a better world.  The Exeter MBA is ranked #1 in UK and #9 in the World for sustainability by Corporate Knights. We take responsible leadership very seriously, and embed ESG throughout all modules in the programme.

Donald is a practice-led Management academic.  Having driven corporate and marketing success for advertising agencies over 35 years in many parts of the world, Donald has significant experience and expertise in the practice of international marketing communications, management, leadership, presentation, coaching and training, alongside other skills. He led well-known agency offices such as JWT, Ogilvy and Lowe, working with diverse brands including HSBC, Unilever, P&G, Mars, Mazda and Toyota.

Curiosity led Donald to translate and test some of that practice experience through Doctoral research at the University of Bath, starting in 2014. His PhD unearthed new insights into the relationships between global advertisers and their agencies, bringing some first-hand field knowledge into academia, applying academic theory to new areas of the practitioner arena. He subsequently became a Senior Lecturer, is a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority, Fellow of the Worshipful Company of Marketors and a Certified Management & Business Educator, and lectures in Marketing, Advertising and Brand Management.

Previously as Director of Teaching for MBAs at Bath, he wholly renewed their Executive MBA programme, refined their Full-time MBA, and led the School’s reaccreditation process with AMBA. In his Leadership role he sits on several boards and managerial committees within the School of Management.

In 2018, Donald pioneered the use of digital examination technology at Bath, running many high-stakes tests over two years. This enabled the University to rapidly adopt e-assessment across the institution as the pandemic took hold. Donald is a member of the International e-Assessments Association and participates in many international conferences, forums and workshops exploring e-assessment.

Interests:

• international advertising, marketing, & Brand management
• institutional work
• advertising agency relationships with clients

Qualifications:

BA (Dunelm), MRes (Bath), PhD (Bath), FHEA, FCMI, CMBE