Professor Ian Baxter
Professor Ian Baxter
Professor of Historic Environment Management
MA, PhD
Ian is a Professor (Historic Environment Management) at Edinburgh Business School and teaches aspects of heritage management, tourism and visitor experience development. His professional practice and research is focused on knowledge management and strategy within heritage and conservation organisations, and enhancement of the visitor experience at historic sites.
Areas of interest
- Policy and Strategy Development, Visitor Experience Management and Interpretation, Business Histories of Heritage Conservation Organisations, Branding and Design, Cultural Resource Management, Heritage Management, Archaeology, Historic Preservation
Qualifications
- 1995-98 PhD University of Cambridge – Strategic management of heritage conservation organisations
- 1990-94 MA(Hons) Edinburgh University – Archaeology
Background
Professor Ian Baxter trained as an archaeologist at the University of Edinburgh and completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge investigating strategic management within heritage and conservation organisations. He has worked for various universities, including the University of Cambridge as Director of Public and Professional Programmes, Bournemouth University, Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Suffolk where he was Head of Suffolk Business School from 2012-2015. He is a long-standing Affiliated Scholar at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and Member of the Faculty of Human, Social and Political Science at the University of Cambridge.
Ian is Vice-Chair of the Built Environment Forum Scotland (BEFS) – the national advocacy organisation for built environment and heritage-related NGOs in Scotland, and a member of Council (Trustee) of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He co-chairs the Skills, Education & Engagement Advisory Group for The Heritage Alliance (the national NGO heritage advocacy organisation in England) and was previously a Trustee from 2014-2022. He recently chaired the Covid19 Historic Environment Resilience Forum (CHERF) on behalf of BEFS and Historic Environment Scotland during the main period of the pandemic.He is also a member the Institute for Historic Building Conservation's Education, Training & Standards Committee, and has previously served on the National Trust for Scotland’s Economic & Community Development Advisory Panel, English Heritage’s Research Advisory Panel, and the ICOMOS UK Cultural Tourism Committee.