Donald was born in Ootacamund, India in 1943. He graduated from Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art in 1967 and then attended Hornsey College of Art, London, in 1969 and the University of Edinburgh in 1980. He was Lecturer in Drawing, Painting and Printmaking at ECA from 1970 until his retirement in 2000. Donald was also Assistant to the Vice Principal and Director of the Centre for Continuing Studies at ECA; Professor of Anatomy and Drawing at the University of Central Florida, USA, and has also been visiting lecturer in many overseas universities in countries including India, China and Japan.