07/09/2026
We join the UMN community in mourning the loss of Joanne Bubolz Eicher, Regents Professor Emerita. A pioneering scholar, mentor, and leader, Dr. Eicher transformed the study of dress and textiles while inspiring generations of students and colleagues. Her legacy continues through the UMN College of Design and the global community of scholars she helped shape.
Learn more at z.umn.edu/Eicher.
As the first director of GMD (then the Goldstein Gallery) from 1983-87, Dr. Eicher provided essential leadership by finding connections between academic scholarship and public interest through engaging exhibitions and programming. She also recognized the importance of museum standards, facilitating an official assessment with the American Association of Museums, which resulted in the Goldstein’s first full-time director in 1987. Her keen interest in sharing resources is evidenced by her lead on the Goldstein Collections Catalog, a 10th anniversary publication that remains the most comprehensive overview of the organization and its collections to date. We are fortunate to steward objects donated from her private collection, some shared here, which echo her intellectual passions and scholarship on global textile and dress practices.
📷 Joanne Bubolz Eicher (1930–2026)
🏷 Wrapper (Nigeria) [detail], 1955-65, 2016.036.003.
🏷 Indire (Nigeria) [detail], 1965-66, 2018.037.008.
🏷 Child's dress (Nigeria), c. 1966, 2011.020.009.
🏷 Shoes (China), early 20th century, 2009.015.003a-b.
📷 Photo from the exhibition "Cloth is the Center of the World: Nigerian Textiles," organized from the collection of Joanne Eicher at the Goldstein Gallery, 2001.
