2002 DISTINGUISHED FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN COUNCIL ON CONSUMER INTERESTS

Abstract

Presentation to Robin A. Douthitt by Karen P. Goebel April 5, 2002 It is an honor to welcome Robin A Douthitt as the 31st Distinguished Fellow of the American Council on Consumer Interests, this most prestigious award presented by ACCI. You may identify Robin as a long-time member of ACCI, supporter of our causes and mission, consistent presenter at our annual meetings, well published in The Journal of Consumer Affairs, co-editor of Advancing the Consumer Interest, and as a Past President and Board member. Some members of ACCI remember Robin as an undergraduate student coming to ACCI conferences with other students from Ohio State University, lured here by professor and mentor Jean S. Bowers. Professor Bowers made it clear that this was the number one consumer organization in the country and that if you are going to work in this field, you need to be an active member of ACCI. For Robin this meant bringing her peanut butter and crackers and using free floor space from Dr. Bowers to defray costs. Her ascendency to Deanship at University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001 is the most recent signpost on the road from her years following achievement of a master's and doctorate in Human Ecology at Cornell University. During her time as chair of our Consumer Science department at UW-Madison, she offered outstanding contributions to ACCI. As President, she spearheaded the complete reorganization of the Council's governance as part of a major strategic planning exercise. She chaired many committees: the Esther Peterson Lecture, professional development, the Colston Warne Lecture, nominations, and research. She created the nationwide email research network of ACCI members. Also, Robin started the mentoring project to provide newcomers to the profession a means of critical feedback of their manuscripts from experts in the field prior to journal submission. Previously, Robin served on the Board and as Vice-President of the Consumer Association of Canada-Saskatchewan, a member of SOCAP and its Blue Ribbon Committee on Long Term Professional Development. She has been the faculty advisor to the Consumer Science Student Association associated with SOCAP. As a consumer researcher, her interests range from child support policy analysis to Bovine Growth Hormone to methods of assigning value to unpaid labor. Especially memorable is her ACCI panel presentation on the consumer attitudes and perceptions about rBGH. Speaking about this controversial issue to an audience of consumer advocates is quite different from speaking to reporters in America's Dairyland about the knowns and unknowns of rBGH. Few other consumer economists have been so prominent in helping to produce research-based materials on policy issues surrounding biotechnology and food safety. Robin has never shied away from issues just because they were contentious. She is highly respected for her contributions on the value of time and frequently sought as a speaker and consultant in valuing time in home production and the economic impact of volunteers. She has published in many distinguished journals including the Journal of Consumer Policy, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, as well as others relat ed to her field. Robin is known as a person with great ideas who works to make them become realities. As an untenured faculty member, she undertook an ambitious study about the retention of untenured women at UW-Madison. She found that many times women faculty felt isolated and often left to seek a more supportive environment. …