About
Dorothy W. Nelson received a Ph.D. in Textile Technology Management from North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, NC. Currently, she is a merchandise buyer (collegiate apparel & merchandise) for Aramark Corporation at the University of Virginia. She also provides consulting services in digital marketing, merchandising, creative services, brand management, and consumer insights.
She was an Assistant Professor in the Textiles, Apparel, Merchandising & Management program at Virginia State University from August 2020-May 2022. Prior to this, she was a lecturer at Northern Arizona University in the department of Strategic Communication from August 2015-May 2020, teaching Merchandising, Communication, Advertising, and PR courses. From Fall 2016-May 2019, she was the Communication Coordinator for the MBA program in the W.A. Franke College of Business at Northern Arizona University.
During undergraduate school, Dr. Nelson participated in the Summer Intern Program at Nordstrom in Bethesda, Maryland. Upon graduating from East Carolina University with a B.S. in Apparel Merchandising and a minor in Business Administration, Ms. Nelson entered the Executive Training Program at Linens 'n Things in Clifton, NJ. She then accepted an Assistant Buyer position at Scully & Scully, Inc. in New York City before moving back to North Carolina to pursue her graduate studies.
Dr. Nelson obtained her M.S. Textiles at NCSU and wrote her Master's thesis on consumer motivations to participate in voluntary simplicity (published in the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management in 2013). While at NCSU, she has worked as both a Graduate Research Assistant and Graduate Teaching Assistant. From August 2009 to May 2011, she worked with Dr. Nancy Cassill and managed the Textile Management Science Lab, a center providing students and faculty with global connectivity to learn and conduct research in a business environment and facilitate collaboration and idea exchange with private industry and government agencies. From August 2011 to May 2012, she worked under the direction of Dr. Traci Lamar on the Hospital Gown Project, a funded project involving the creation of an innovative healthcare garment. Most recently, she was a Graduate Teaching Assistant for Dr. Marguerite Moore and taught the online sections of Fashion & Textile Management (FTM) 220: Principles of Retailing & Supply Chain Management in Textiles and FTM 482: Advanced Textile Brand Management & Marketing.
Dr. Nelson received her Ph.D. in Textile Technology Management Ph.D. from the College of Textiles at NCSU. She conducted her dissertation research on millennial consumers' motivations for using various social media platforms.