Professional Achievement 2004 - Vicki R. Fitzsimmons
Vicki earned her B.S. with a major in Home Economics and her M.S. with a major in Family Economics and Home Management from the University o f Arizona. In 1980, she earned a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois with a major in Family and Consumption Economics. Vicki is Associate Professor Emerita of the University of Illinois. She taught personal finance and financial planning and counseling at the Urbana-Champaign campus for 16 years. She developed the Consumer Economics and Finance undergraduate major while there. Vicki served as Extension Specialist in Consumer and Family Economics for over 5 years with responsibilities in the areas of adult and youth programming in personal finance. She provided leadership to the State High School Financial Planning Program and edited a biannual newsletter for high school teachers in the State of Illinois.
Vicki is the author of numerous publications, including over 25 professional peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Her research projects focused on volunteer work participation, household work time allocation and financial management, especially related to gender roles. Since retiring to Green Valley in 2001, Vicki has assumed responsibility for writing and editing La Clinica, a quarterly newsletter for the St. Andrew’s Children’s Council The publication reaches in excess of 2,000 people and is responsible for a large part of the non-profit’s fund raising endeavors. St. Andrews Children’s Clinic is a free monthly clinic held in Nogales. The clinic is limited to indigent children from Mexico who have serious medical problems, such as spina bifida, brittle bones disease, cerebral palsy and many others. Vicki’s life is characterized by the excellent quality and the unbelievable quantity of her contributions to the lives of people.
