She was professor of political science and public administration at North Carolina State University, where she was also the Associate Dean of the College of Humanities.
[2] From 1955 to 1960, Fairchild worked as a financial analyst at the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
[2] In 1968 Fairchild began a PhD in political science at the University of Washington, which she completed in 1974.
The book compared the law enforcement structures in England, France, Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.
[4] Fairchild was elected president of the Women's Caucus for Political Science-South for a one-year term in 1990.