Rate My Professor James Skinner

Professor James Skinner serves as Head of School and Dean of Newcastle Business School at the University of Newcastle, Australia, where he holds the position of Professor of Sport Business. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy from Victoria University, Australia, a Master of Business Administration from Bond University, and a Bachelor of Education from Queensland University of Technology. Skinner's academic career commenced at the University of Tasmania, followed by roles at Southern Cross University and as Head of the Department for Tourism, Sport, and Hotel Management at Griffith Business School, which housed Australia's largest sports management program at the time. In 2014, he relocated to the United Kingdom to become Research Director and Professor of Sport Business at the Institute for Sport Business, Loughborough University London. There, he established the institute, offering five distinctive master's programs in sport business, and served as Associate Dean for Enterprise and Associate Dean for Teaching, forging strategic partnerships and transitioning programs online during COVID-19. Since March 2023, he has provided strategic leadership at Newcastle Business School, enhancing research impact, curriculum design, and industry engagement. Additionally, he acts as research and innovation advisor for AI Scout, a sport tech data company utilizing AI and mobile technologies for talent identification.

Skinner's research intersects sport as a socio-cultural institution with management, marketing, and business aspects of commercial and community sport, including social impacts, substance use, anti-doping policies, organizational change, leadership, innovation, and research design methodologies. He has published 20 books and over 100 journal articles, securing $2 million in external research funding and supervising more than 20 PhD students. Key publications include Research Methods for Sport Management (2nd edition, 2024, with Smith, Read, Burch, and Mueller), Introduction to Sport Marketing (3rd edition, 2024, with Smith, Stavros, Geurin, and Burch), WADA: The World Anti-Doping Agency – A Multi-Level Legitimacy Analysis (2021, with Read, Lock, and Smith), Qualitative Research in Sport Management (2020, with Edwards), and Research Methodologies for Sports Scholarship (2020, with Engelberg). The Institute for Sport Business under his leadership produced over 1,500 international graduates employed in sport-related commercial, government, not-for-profit, tech, banking, marketing, and consulting sectors. Skinner has consulted for the International Olympic Committee, Football Australia, Australian Sports Commission, Sport England, and Chelsea Football Club, shaping anti-doping policy locally, nationally, and globally through grants from Sport Integrity Australia. He has been nominated three times by Australia's Federal Sports Minister to represent the country on the World Anti-Doping Agency Education Committee and holds distinguished visiting professorships at institutions such as the Russian International Olympic University, Beijing Sport University, Ulster University, and Loughborough University London.