PRINCESS ANNE, Md. –– Dr. Grace Wasike Namwamba is the new chairwoman of the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Namwamba previously taught in Baton Rouge, La. at Southern University and Agriculture and Mechanical College, where she was a professor and led the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. She also served between 2012 and 2013 as Southern’s interim Dean of the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences.

“UMES is one of the leading (historically black institutions) in the country,” she said. “It’s a very attractive place. The Department of Human Ecology has a long history of very outstanding leaders, and I’m honored to have this opportunity.”

Namwamba will lead a department within UMES’ School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences (SANS) that attracts about 200 undergraduates who study child development, dietetics, nutrition, family and consumer sciences, family and consumer sciences education and fashion merchandising.

Fashion merchandising is Namwamba’s field, where her focus has been on digital textile printing and 3D virtual prototyping for apparel products. Digital textile printing, she said, provides professionals who are trained in the field with wider latitude in printing unique and intricate designs directly on fabric through use of specialized technology. read more