In February 2025, I completed a 6-month postdoctoral research project on the WAVES uniforms of WWII created by fashion designer, Mainbocher, as the Vining/Hacker Fellow in Women’s Military History at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. In May 2024, I graduated from Iowa State University with a Ph.D. in Apparel, Merchandizing, and Design with emphasis on history. I hold a BS in Electrical Engineering and MS in Mechanical Engineering.
I retired from the US Navy in 2018 at the rank of Commander after 21 years of service as an Engineering Duty Officer (EDO) where I supervised, scheduled, and budgeted ship maintenance and construction.
As a student teacher, I taught two classes on History of Fashion: 3500 BCE to mid-19th Century and 1870s to present day. During the five years in my studies, eight designs were accepted and exhibited in national and international juried exhibitions, winning Innovative Design Scholarship – Graduate Award twice at the 2022 and 2023 International Textiles and Apparel Association Design Competition and Best Student Design Award at the 2023 American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Annual Conference. I have also delivered four history presentations at professional conferences. In 2023, I received the Robert C. Hillestad Fellowship for outstanding graduate student in the study of historic textiles or costume at the International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference.