Vicki Byard joined the NEIU faculty in 1991. Some of the highlights of her career at NEIU have been serving as the Chair of the Task Force for Addressing the Needs of LGBTQ and Women Students (2012), receiving the Martha Thompson Outstanding Faculty Award from the Women's and Gender Studies Program (2017), serving as Chair of the Faculty Senate (2018-2020), serving as Faculty Fellow in the Angelina Pedroso Center for Diversity and Intercultural Affairs (2018-2020), and teaching intensive thesis-writing course to International Relations students at the University of Warsaw (2019). In her personal life, she has raised two children, volunteered for social justice initiatives, and performed stories she has written for live literature events.