From Defense to Professor to Consultant: Lane Cohee ’17DBA

After spending seven years as a commissioned officer in the air force, Lane Cohee joined Harris Corp and came to Florida in 2004. He realized he wanted to transfer into the area of developing new talent due to his passion for helping people aspiring to move into senior management. He knew it would be helpful to have his doctorate and researched quite a number of opportunities in Central Florida. He selected Rollins due to its location and the fact that Crummer’s EDBA was the first AACSB-accredited program in Florida.  

Lane’s dissertation, “Corporate Asset Development Strategies During Market Contractions: A Defense Sector Analysis,” compared five companies where the vast majority of their work came from defense-related spending to five other companies with some defense-related work but were more diversified. He examined them individually and as groups to see the defining characteristics and how you might approach positioning yourself when dealing with an economic downturn. “I was interested in learning the strategies corporate people were using to deal with a recessionary environment.”  

After completing his EDBA and publishing his work, Lane went to Palm Beach Atlantic University to teach. “If you are going to move into academia, it’s important to get decent publication records pretty quickly. Crummer was very helpful in helping me do that.” During his time there, the college was working toward its AACSB accreditation, a rigorous process that is extremely detailed in terms of documentation. Roughly 6% of schools globally are accredited by the association, and it is particularly challenging for a small school. Lane was the project manager for the process, and the school was awarded its accreditation in 2023.  

Lane also became the associate dean and MBA director at Palm Beach Atlantic in addition to being a professor. “There are always some special students out there who are passionate about learning, interested in the environment, and trying to meet as many people as they possibly can to mentor them. Those are the ones you get really excited about.” Lane keeps the thank you cards he receives from students as a reminder of the impact he is making. He will be an adjunct instructor at Crummer this fall and is looking forward to working with some of the same professors he studied under. 

From Lane’s experience in business and academia, he has developed a team-focused view of leadership. “If you build and invest yourself in your team, the team will invest themselves in the mission.” Skilled leaders pour themselves into their people, both professionally and individually. Employees need to know you care about them as people, not just as a means to an end. Lane also emphasizes the leadership value of problem solving and personal sacrifice. “You can only ask others to do what you are willing to do yourself, but you can also only sprint for so long. Leadership is balance. Great leaders have high demands, but they balance those demands with empathy and generosity.” 

Now Lane has a consulting business and provides training for a number of government agencies as well as the private sector. He enjoys the project and corporate management side as well as the teaching element and getting to work with seasoned professionals. When Lane isn’t teaching or consulting, you may find him spending time with his grandchildren or getting back into sand volleyball and tennis. We are thrilled with the impact Lane has made in his career and welcome him back on campus to continue the important work of shaping the next generation of business professionals.  

If you are interested in getting started on your EDBA journey with Crummer, make an appointment with one of our admissions specialists.