ITAA Proceedings 2001 President's Address

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© 2001, International Textile and Apparel Association, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ITAA Proceedings, #59 – www.itaaonline.org
2001 Proceedings Kansas City, MO, USA
“…why is the whole greater than
the sum of the parts?”
or weaving a fabric of connectedness
President's Address
Molly Eckman
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
First of all, I would like to thank all of you for the great honor and pleasure of addressing you at
the opening session of the 2001 annual ITAA conference here in Kansas City. As always our
annual meeting is a time to gather our ITAA community together to share advancements in our
field and to recognize the achievements of our colleagues. It is also a time for sharing personal
reflections on recent world events and our personal triumphs and tragedies. I am very sorry to
announce that the ITAA community has experienced a loss. Nancy Staples of Clemson
University passed away suddenly this week. In honor of Nancy please join in a moment of
silence. In this time of uncertainty, it is especially important this year that we gather together
when reconnecting with long time friends brings us a sense of comfort. Our gathering
demonstrates the resolve of our members and commitment to our discipline and I thank all of
you for coming in light of the world’s circumstances. I especially thank our international
members who have traveled so far. Would those of you who have traveled to the U.S. from other
countries please stand? Thank you for being here.
Kansas City holds great significance in relation to my professional career as a university
educator. When I decided to return to Iowa State University to begin my graduate work, Kansas
City was the half way point in the trip that my father and I took from my home in Oklahoma City
to visit Ames, Iowa. As we passed through Kansas City, my father entertained me with stories
about how, as a young man, weekend trips to Kansas City with his friends were a respite from
Fort Riley, Kansas, where he was stationed during another stressful period in our history, prior to
his serving in Europe during World War II. Kansas City was also a respite for my mother and me
as stopped on our way to their home after another visit to Ames. We enjoyed some shopping at
the beautiful country club plaza and pondered the details of “setting up a graduate school life.”
During my first semester as a graduate student at Iowa State there was much excitement about
something called ACPTC and I was told numerous times how much I was going to enjoy the
organization’s regional meeting to be held in Ames the following fall. Like many things that first
semester, having stepped back into academia after working in industry, I had no idea what they