Grace Wasike Namwamba, Ph.D. is the chair of the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and has been in this position since July 2015. She was previously on the faculty of Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for twenty years. At Southern University, she served as professor and chair of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences for several years. She was Interim Dean of the College of Agricultural, Family, and Consumer Sciences between 2012 and 2013. During her over 30 years of experience in higher education, she has worked consistently to promote excellence through administration, teaching, research, and service. She led her current department to attain accreditation from the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences for the first time in 2020. She has been instrumental in updating the curriculum and academic offerings, including new degree programs and online programming. She teaches fashion merchandising & textiles and family and consumer sciences courses. Her research focuses on digital textile printing and 3D virtual prototyping for apparel products. She earned a Ph.D. in Family and Consumer Sciences Education from Iowa State University, a Master of Education in Home Economics Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Home Economics from Egerton University, Kenya