Dr Alan R. Watkinson

Senior Consultant & Principal
Director of Business Operations, Australia

Before joining Marts&Lundy as a consultant in 2018, Dr Alan Watkinson spent 17 years heading up advancement offices. He was appointed Director of Development at Scotch College in Melbourne in 2001 and saw to its conclusion a campaign of just over $10 million, at that time the largest school-based campaign in Australia. He became Director of Advancement at Trinity College at the University of Melbourne in 2007 and subsequently spent a year at the Melbourne Business School in 2012. He was appointed Director of Alumni and Advancement at La Trobe University in 2013 and became the Chief Advancement Officer of the University to lead the University’s first ever Comprehensive Campaign – Make a Difference – in 2016. He brought the $50 million campaign to a successful conclusion ahead of schedule in 2017, the year of the University’s 50th anniversary. 

Dr Watkinson was educated in the UK where he undertook undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge. He migrated to Australia in 1980 and subsequently gained a second Masters degree and his Doctorate from the University of Melbourne. Alan has spent his life working in education, both as a teacher and as an advancement professional. He has also presented extensively throughout Asia and Australasia on a wide range of advancement issues, both for Educate Plus and for the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).  

Alan is a Fellow of Educate Plus, a former President and the inaugural Chair of the Board and has been recognised for his contribution to educational philanthropy in Australasia through the Trevor Wigney Award and the Peter Crook Award. As well as developing and implementing advancement strategies for his organisations, he has always been a hands-on practitioner, with special interests in integrating alumni and fundraising activities, major gifts, stewardship and bequests. Alan was appointed Director of Business Operations in Australia in 2020.

Residence

Melbourne, Australia

Education

  • University of Cambridge, M.A., PGCE
  • University of Melbourne, D.Ed.

Résumé & Email

Email