PATRICIA A. LANCASTER

BIOGRAPHY

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Patricia Anne Lancaster joined the faculty of Rollins College in 1970 as a professor of French and humanities.  For thirty-five years, Lancaster has not only worked for Rollins College as a teacher, but also as an able administrator.

Lancaster was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  She studied French at Coker College and Emory University.  She received her AB in 1963 from Coker, her MA in 1970 and her PhD in 1971 from Emory.

Beginning her career as a professor, Lancaster joined the ranks of administrators in 1983 as the Associate Dean of Faculty for four years.  She then served as the Director of International Programs from 1987 to 1991, the Dean of the Rollins Brevard Campus from 1994 to 2000, the Dean of the Hamilton Holt School from 1998 to 2003, the Interim Provost in 2000, and the Vice President and Provost of Rollins College in 2004.

Lancaster is a member of the Modern Language Association, the South Atlantic Modern Language Association, and the American Conference of Academic Deans.  She received the Arthur Vining Davis Award for excellence in teaching in 1981, the Heart of Gold Award from the American Heart Association in 1998, the Hamilton Holt Award in 2001, and the National Endowment for the Humanities Grant.

So what made you decide to major in French?

• "When I went to college, I thought that I was going to major in biology... But I had had a lot of French in high school... I think that it follows a long with what Joseph Campbell says in his books.  He always says, 'Follow your bliss, do the thing that you like and enjoy, and you’ll be much more likely to be successful.'  And so I liked French and I majored in French, I became a teacher."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• "... In fact, my education there, I think, had a great influence on the development of my interest in further education... the course was designed so that you had lectures by faculty from a number of different areas and there was an effort made to give you background about a historical period and all of the things that went on at that time... I think that I got more out of having that type of course than I would have... by taking a lot of individual courses on the same material."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• "...One of the more interesting things I’ve ever done in my life was to move a college... I had the opportunity to help a program move with the hope of growing and the sad duty and responsibility of closing it out."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• "Oh, the first year I was here I got an unexpected opportunity to take the group on a study abroad trip... The idea was that some of the students... would go and live with the families in Martinique and others would live in a villa and would have instruction in intermediate level French... the most interesting thing about that trip was that we were there for about ten days without any money (laughs)..."
  

• "I think making sure that you maintain the quality of the educational experience of the students, because you want them to have the best possible instruction..."
  
  
  
  

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Could you share with us some of your educational background...?

...In 1992, you became the Dean of Brevard campus...tell us about your experience there?

 Lancaster Talks About a Trip to Martinique

So what is most challenging about being the dean of the Holt school?