New Director Appointed to Economic Education Center

New Director Appointed to Economic Education Center

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas has announced the appointment of Rita Littrell, assistant professor of economics, as director of the Bessie B. Moore Center for Economic Education.

Littrell has served as assistant director since 1997 and replaces former director, Thomas R. McKinnon, who founded the Moore Center in 1978. McKinnon served as interim dean of the college from 1992-1993 and became a University Professor in 1999. He retired from the center in June 2004. The mission of the Moore Center is to train and inspire teachers so that, through them, young people will understand the economic world in which they live and fully participate in it.

"Dr. Littrell is the perfect choice to head up the Moore Center," Dean Doyle Z. Williams said. "She brings more than 20 years of experience in the field of education and in working with classroom teachers to develop economic education programs."

Littrell holds a B.S.E. in elementary education and an M.Ed. in secondary education from the University of Arkansas and received a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Kansas in 1999. During the summer, she teaches economics for prospective teachers and conducts workshops for teachers.

She has served as a classroom teacher, economic educator, gifted education coordinator and school administrator. She served as a field coordinator while on a fellowship at the University of Kansas and as director of the Center for Economic Education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her research interests include the learning of economics and the development of economics education curricula. As associate director of the Moore Center, Littrell has worked with area schools and businesses to develop programs that teach economics in grades K-12.

She has developed an array of economic education curricula that have won national awards. Awards and recognitions include Springdale's Outstanding Young Educator, Phi Delta Kappa Educational Leadership Award, six National Council on Economic Education Awards, and the National Federation of Independent Business Award for Entrepreneurship Education. Since 2000 she also has led the student organization, Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE). The SIFE team received national recognition this spring when they won first place in their league at the Charlotte Regional SIFE competition. The team also won first place in the nation for its projects, "Teach a Child About Business Week" and "Market Economics." They were finalists in the Entrepreneurship special competition.

"I am very humbled to be serving as director of the Center for Economic Education that bears Bessie B. Moore's name," Littrell said. "Bessie was an outstanding leader in economic education and literacy in the nation. Under the direction of Dr. McKinnon, the center gained national and international prominence. The teachers and ultimately the students of Arkansas benefit from the programs offered by the center. I have a great challenge ahead of me, but with the support of area teachers and businesses, we will be able to help students become better economic decision makers and citizens."

Susan Bristow, instructor in information systems, has taken the role of faculty advisor for SIFE, effective July 1. Bristow has worked with SIFE in the past year and will be assisted by Littrell on projects related to economic education.

The Bessie B. Moore Center for Economic Education was named to honor Bessie Boehm Moore who founded the Arkansas Council on Economic Education and fostered its development into one of the preminent councils in the nation. In the early years, she raised money, recruited the teachers, developed the program, and conducted the workshops in a manner that was much admired throughout the country. Moore has had an influence on economic education in Arkansas and throughout much of the nation as well. A national leadership award given annually to the outstanding economic educator in the United States is named the Bessie Moore Award.

McKinnon served 33 years in the Walton College and has received five national awards for Moore Center programs. He holds a B.A. in political science from Southern State College, an M.Ed. in secondary education from the University of Arkansas, an M.A. in economics from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Mississippi.

He joined the University of Arkansas in 1972. His research areas included economic education, history of economic thought, international economics and public utilities. He has taught economics and free enterprise in Eastern Europe. He served as chair of the UA Campus Council and spearheaded the founding of the faculty senate. He served as co-director of the University Teaching and Faculty Support Center and president of the Teaching Academy. For the past four years, he served as co-director of the Walton CollegeCenter for Teaching Effectiveness and Faculty Development.