Gwendolyn Sneed O'Neal
Gwendolyn Sneed O’Neal is Professor and Head of the Department of Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her scholarship focuses on meanings assigned to apparel products and their impact on preferences and behavior. Her most recent scholarship has focused on African American aesthetic of dress. O’Neal has published in a variety of journals including the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Family Science Review, Sociological Inquiry, Home Economics Research Journal, Dress, Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, and Kappa Omicron Nu Forum. She has presented her research and served as an invited speaker for national and international conferences across the U. S, Canada, France, The United Kingdom, Seoul, Korea, Russia and Ghana, West Africa. She was invited to serve on the USDA/USAID/AGOA Export Business Development Team, Accra, Ghana, and commissioned as the writer of African American Aesthetic of Dress for the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion to be published in 2010. O’Neal served as president of the International Textiles and Apparel Association, her major professional organization, and two terms as Vice President for Planning. She also served as President of the National Coalition for Black Development in Home Economics. In November 2003, Dr. O’Neal was designated a Fellow of the International Textile and Apparel Association -- the highest honor bestowed by that organization. Prior to coming to UNC, Greensboro, O’Neal served for six years as Professor and Head, Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design, Kansas State University. A member of four academic honor societies (Omicron Nu, Kappa Omicron Phi, Phi Upsilon Omicron and Phi Kappa Phi), O’Neal has taught at three other institutions: The Ohio State University, Alabama A & M University, and Bennett College.