Person

Shields, Currin V.

1918-1984

Currin V. Shields was a political scientist and leading consumer advocate. Shields received his A.B. degree from the University of Nebraska in 1941, followed by his Ph.M. from the University of Wisconsin in 1943. From 1944 to 1946, he served in the U.S. Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. After his time in the military, Shields was an instructor at Yale University until he earned his Ph.D. from Yale in 1950. From 1950 to 1960, Shields was a professor of Political Science at UCLA. He also served on the 22nd Congressional District, Democratic Council of California and host of a radio program entitled “What’s the issue?” at station KFWB in Hollywood. Shields was co-chairman of the California Democratic Council Political Action Committee from 1955 to 1957, and in 1958, he published his book “Democracy and Catholicism in America.” From 1960 to 1984, Shields was a professor in the Department of Government at the University of Arizona. Shields was a failed candidate for Governor of Arizona in the 1968 Democratic primary. Shields’s work as a consumer advocate began in 1969 when he became a board member of the Consumer Federation of America, as well as president of the Arizona Consumers Council, a position he would hold until 1980. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Shields was a member and director of several consumer groups, including the Consumer Advisory Committee, the National Conference of Consumer Organizations, the President’s Consumer Advertising Council, the National Consumer Affairs Internship Program, and the National Consumer Symposium, Inc. Shields died in 1984 at the age of 66.

Written in January 2021 by Jarrod Kuckelman.

Creator Source: Library of Congress Name Authority File