Dr. Lancaster is Interim Dean of the School of Foreign Service.

She is also a professor of politics in the School of Foreign Service with a joint appointment in the Department of Government.

She has published numerous books and articles on the politics of foreign aid, the politics of development and development in Africa. Her newest book is George Bush's Foreign Aid: Transformation or Chaos? by the Center for Global Development, Washington, D.C. 2008. Her recent books include Foreign Aid: Diplomacy, Development, Domestic Politics(University of Chicago Press, 2006), Organizing US Aid for the 21st Century (with Ann Van Dusen, published by the Bookings Institution, 2006) and Foreign Aid and Private Sector Development (with Kwaku Nuamah, Matthew Lieber and Todd Johnson published by the Watson Institute at Brown University, 2006).

She has been a Carnegie Fellow and a recipient of a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. She has also been a Congressional Fellow, a Fulbright Fellow and a visiting fellow at the Institute for International Economics and (currently) the Center for Global Development.

Dr. Lancaster has also had an extensive career in government. She was the Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development from 1993 to 1996. She worked at the U.S. State Department as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1980-81 and for the Policy Planning Staff from 1977-80. In addition, she has been a Congressional Fellow and worked for the Office of Management and Budget.

She has been a consultant for the United Nations, the World Bank and numerous other organizations. She serves on the board of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Vital Voices, the Society for International Development and the advisory board for Center for Global Development.

She is currently working on a book entitled Evangelicals and World Poverty.