25th Anniversary
of the
Margaret Ritchie Distinguished Speaker Series

Margaret Ritchie had a distinguished record and rendered faithful service to the University and State of Idaho for 27 years. She came to the University as head of the Department of Home Economics in 1938, and was largely responsible for planning the home economics building, which was completed in August 1952. She held offices in various professional organizations: Secretary of the American Dietetic Association and the Idaho Division of the American Association of University Women.

As head of the department at the University of Idaho, she counseled and taught hundreds of students. Her guidance, encouragement, enthusiasm, and high personal and professional standards inspired and influenced them to achieve success in their professional and personal lives. Her warm and dynamic personality, love of life, and the ability to see the good qualities in every individual left a lasting impression on all who knew her.

Each year the Margaret Ritchie Distinguished Speaker Fund brings a nationally or internationally renowned speaker to the University of Idaho campus. The speaker series is designed to stimulate interest in family and consumer sciences or one of its allied fields—foods and nutrition; child, family, and consumer studies; teacher education; and clothing, textiles, and design.

2005 distinguished speaker was Dr. Virginia Vincenti from University of Wyoming, Laramie, professor and past president of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS). She talked about "Legacies of the Past Influence the Future."