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I provide leadership for college-wide innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives for faculty, staff, and students in the College of Human Sciences at Iowa State University.


Administrative highlights as department chair of Apparel, Events, & Hospitality Management (AESHM):

• Increased departmental external funding to over $3 million since 2017, a one faculty team received a $1.5 million grant.

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• Launched the Event Management Masters Program with the first cohort starting Fall 2019 and first graduates were Spring 2022.

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• Two faculty have start-up businesses based on research and 3 patents are pending.

 

• Providing leadership to the establishment of new textile science and product development research labs in the Human Nutritional Sciences Building.

 

• Establishment of three new Executive Advisory Councils for: (a) Hospitality Management, (b) Event Management, and (c) the Textiles & Clothing Museum.

 

• The establishment of two new departmental led facilities in the Iowa State University Student Innovation Center https://www.sictr.iastate.edu /, which opened in August 2020: (a) INNOVATE 1858 (student operated retail store) and (b) SPARKS (student operated café).

 

• Opened and manage the College of Human Sciences Culinary Creation Lab in the Iowa State University Student Innovation Center.

 

• Established new student learning facilities: (a) AESHM Data Analytics Laboratory, (b) THE MEETING ROOM: Where Experiences and Technology Innovative, (d) AESHM Photo Studio, and (e) AESHM 3D Body Scanning Lab.

 

• Facilitated curricular and operational updates to the Joan Bice Underwood Tearoom (student operated dining facility) and classrooms and studio spaces in both MacKay Hall and LeBaron Hall.

 

• Manage approximately $429,000.00 of undergraduate and graduate scholarships for all 3 programs.

Career highlights:

• Research - Scholarship

• 20 research awards
• 101 refereed research and teaching presentations
• 22 publications (journal articles, chapters in books & full papers from conference presentations)

 

• Design - Scholarship

• 21 design awards regionally, nationally, and internationally
• 70 juried exhibitions
• 42 years of design experience
• 15 invited exhibitions
• 13 curated exhibitions

 

• Teaching

• 33 years of teaching experience in apparel/merchandising
• 34 graduate students advised to completion
• 72 juried exhibitions by students
• 62 awards received by students for research and creative scholarship