Joanne Eicher

Joanne Eicher, also known as Joanne Bubolz Eicher (1930-2026) was a professor and author who was at one point the leading scholar on Kalabari textiles.

Education In 1952 Eicher received an MS in sociology and anthropology, and in 1959 she received a PhD in sociology and anthropology, all from Michigan State University. She had previously received a BA from Michigan State University in 1948, having majored in languages and literature and minored in textiles and clothing.

Career Eicher was part of the faculty of Michigan State University's Department of Human and Environmental Design beginning in the late 1960s and continuing until 1977. she held that position until 1983. From 1983 until the end of 1987 she was the Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel's head, also at the University of Minnesota. She eventually became regents professor emerita.

She was also director of the Goldstein Museum of Design from 1983 to 1987.

She was a speaker as part of the Margaret Ritchie Distinguished Speaker series at the University of Idaho in 2003.

She was a member of the Textile Research Centre's Advisory Council beginning in 2006. She was also on the board of the Textile Society of America from 2008 to 2012.

She was the editor-in-chief of the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, first published in print in 2010. New York: Oxford University Press. Eicher, J.B. Editor-in-Chief, (2010). Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion