Once a Viking,
Always a Viking

RANDY LANCASTER

From HRA to Inspiring Students

Each year, the Diocese of Nashville School’s Office recognizes one outstanding Catholic school educator. This year’s recipient is our very own, Randy Lancaster, chair of the English department at Father Ryan High School, HRA alum class of 1979, Donelson resident, and most importantly, the father to current HRA students, Madeline in 3rd grade and Max in 5th grade.

Mr. Lancaster was a standout student at both Holy Rosary and Father Ryan (he graduated from Father Ryan in 1983 as the class salutatorian) before graduating from the University of the South at Sewanee where he majored in English. Throughout his illustrious career, he has taught at St. Andrew’s Sewanee School and Harpeth Hall, spent time working for the Red Cross in Washington D.C., pursued a career as a professional musician in Atlanta, and acted with the Nashville Shakespeare Company. But, he found his work home at Father Ryan where he has taught a variety of English classes for 26 years, including American and British Literature and Military Literature of the World Wars.

Mr. Lancaster remains a beloved teacher by all his students and his peers, as evidenced by the many awards he has won, including the 2020 Christ the Teacher Award, recognizing an outstanding educator in a Catholic school in the Diocese of Nashville and the Bishop Alphonse Smith Teacher of the Year Award, given to a Father Ryan teacher each year by the faculty and staff. But, it is the success of his students that has fulfilled him beyond measure. As he told the Tennessee Register recently, “It has been a wonderful career...I have found teaching for the edification of young hearts and minds to be a most fulfilling way to exert utmost effort for the utmost blessing of others.” Congratulations, Mr. Lancaster, on winning such a prestigious and life-affirming award. We are proud of your success, and we are so pleased the Lancaster family is a part of Viking Nation.