Diane Dowdell

M.B.A., Texas A&M University, 1998
B.S., Texas A&M University, 1984
B.A., Texas A&M University, 1984

Managerial improvisation
Cultural integration
Internal marketing
Innovation
Mindset shifts

As a professor and now a senior lecturer, Diane Dowdell has designed and delivered courses in Organizational Culture, Leadership and Ethics, Team Performance and Productivity, Rapid Innovation, Marketing Principles, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Selling and Sales Management, Promotion, Organizational Improvisation, Marketing Research, and Marketing Strategy at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and Texas A&M University in College Station.

She holds two bachelor degrees, a Master of Business Administration, and an ABD designation from her Aggie alma mater. For years, she has operated her own consulting firm, specializing in professional development, innovation management, brand evaluation, customer service issues, consumer behavior trends, global marketing, public relations, marketing communications and organizational identity. A native New Yorker who ended up at Texas A&M University through a series of mysterious events, Dowdell is dedicated to free-form teaching methods and the use of humor in seminars. She believes that it is a teacher’s sacred duty to engage her audience and, having accomplished this, to impart knowledge clearly, directly, and memorably.

As a consultant, Dowdell has administered various studies for both nonprofit and for-profit organizations in a variety of industries. For corporate clients, she has also developed and conducted courses and learning experiences in Critical Thinking, Problem Identification, Creative Problem Solving, Continuous Improvement, Strategic Improvisation, Navigating Personal Change, Bi-Directional Mentorship, Interaction Intelligence (involving unconscious bias), Dynamic Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Tactical Empathy, Personal Branding, Team Building, Team Performance, Team Decision Making, Leadership, Collaboration, Communication, Innovation Management, and Change Management.

At Rackspace, Dowdell found a home. As Rackspace’s Global Learning and Development Architect, she (1) develops and delivers courses for Rackspace Leaders across all offices and all functions; (2) serves as an internal consultant on issues such as strategy, collaboration, communication, innovation management, and accountability; (3) acts as a mentor and executive coach; and (4) is having the most rewarding professional experience of her life.

Dowdell is a member of more than a dozen national honor societies and the Ph.D. Project, an organization of minority doctoral students and professors in Business. In May 2003, she was recognized for outstanding teaching effectiveness by the Texas A&M Department of Marketing, the Texas A&M College of Business, and the American Marketing Association. In November of 2006, she was awarded the Douglass Award for Innovative Teaching by St. Mary’s University. And, in February 2007, she was granted “Master Teacher” status, a nationally recognized designation of teaching excellence and innovation, by the Marketing Management Association. In 2009, she was a featured speaker on the National Coca-Cola Lecture Series. She enjoys writing poetry, listening to music, and making people laugh.