About Me

Here I am with my dog Nike… in this image we were photographing Iowa wildflowers, one of my favorite subjects.

I am recently retired as a Professor of Textiles and Apparel from the University of Northern Iowa and am actively involved in establishing a another lifetime of self development…

Here’s some more background:

  • I was born in Brooklyn, NYC and spent my grammar school years in Queens, NYC. I grew up in a small neighborhood of garden apartments.
PS 186 Castlewood Grammar School
my neighborhood in Bellerose, Queens, NY
  • As a youngster, my family moved to North Carolina, and the southeastern U.S. is where I came of age, eventually graduating from a high school in Durham, NC.
  • To my great, good fortune I attended the University of North Carolina and graduated with a B.A. in Psychology. I pledged a fraternity (Tau Epsilon Phi) and maintained friendships with some of my brothers throughout life,
the Old Well at UNC
Tau Epsilon Phi
  • After a few years, I returned to school to study textile science. It was at that time the largest industry in the southeast and I was 4th generation in the “needle-trade.” I earned a B.S. degree in Textiles at North Carolina State and subsequently a M.S. in Textiles at The Institute of Textile Technology (ITT).
Nelson Hall at NCSU
The Library at ITT
  • I completed my formal education with a Doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. I earned this degree part-time while serving as a faculty and administrator at the Institute of Textile Technology.
Old print of UVA… I bought this when I graduated with my Doctorate.
  • My working career includes several posts in the manufacturing industry, including Director of Textile Research at Air Products and Chemicals, as well as academic posts including professorships and administration at the Institute of Textile Technology, Kansas State University, and finally the University of Northern Iowa.
  • I am a rolling stone, having lived in multiple locations around the U.S.
    • Queens, NYC
    • Gastonia, NC
    • Spartanburg, SC
    • Durham, NC
    • Chapel Hill, NC
    • Charlottesville, Va
    • Tallasee, AL
    • Allentown, PA
    • Manhattan, KS
    • Cedar Falls/Waterloo, IA
  • I am retired in Pittsboro, NC just outside Chapel Hill where I exercise, am a cyclist, play guitar, make photographs, and read. Oh yes… I am also the writer/organizer and general all purpose steward of this weblog…