In Memoriam: Wade Lancaster

Wade Lancaster, 70, a professor of marketing on the spring Semester at Sea voyage and the husband of Jeanette Lancaster, dean and professor emerita of the University of Virginia School of Nursing, died Feb. 3 of natural causes while traveling in Shanghai.

U.Va. is the academic sponsor for Semester at Sea. A statement issued Monday by the Institute for Shipboard Education said, “The Semester at Sea community is saddened to learn of the death of Professor Wade Lancaster. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Lancaster family, particularly his wife, Jeanette Lancaster, who is also teaching on the current voyage.”

Dr. Sharon L. Hostler, academic dean of the current voyage and McLemore Birdsong Professor of Pediatrics, senior associate dean at the School of Medicine and vice provost for faculty development, has known the Lancasters for 25 years. She described Wade Lancaster as “precise and consistent” and “the best field lab leader we have known.”

“He was a great listener who was totally engaged with students, staff and faculty,” Hostler said. “He was smiling 24/7 since we left San Diego. We will miss him.” 

Before his retirement, Lancaster taught marketing at Clarion University in western Pennsylvania and traveled to more than 50 countries over his long career in education. On Semester at Sea, he was teaching a three-credit course on service marketing, his specialty and passion, helping students to understand and compare global marketing frameworks.

He earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration degree in marketing at Kent State University, an M.B.A. in management and marketing from Texas Christian University and a Ph.D. in marketing, management and public health from the University of Oklahoma.

A prolific writer, Lancaster wrote multiple publications about marketing theory and lived and taught in both Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

Lancaster is survived by his wife, Jeanette; two daughters and four granddaughters.

A shipboard memorial service is planned this week. His funeral service will be held Feb. 16 at Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta.

Condolences can be sent to Jeanette Lancaster at 2420 Stonevalley Lane, Cumming, GA 30041.

Memorial contributions can be made in Lancaster’s honor to the James Howard Miller Endowed Nursing Scholarship Fund he created at U.Va. years ago to honor his wife’s father.

Media Contact

Rebecca P. Arrington

Office of University Communications