Harvey I. Fisher (1916-1994)

Adapted from memoriam published in The Auk 113:928-930 (1996)

Harvey Irvin Fisher was born on 15 June 1916 in Edgar, Nebraska, the son of Fred H. and Blanche Baker Fisher. His youth was spent in the vicinity of Blue Springs, Missouri. Harvey received his A.A. degree in Kansas City in 1935, succeeded in 1937 with a B.S. degree from Kansas State University followed by marriage to Mildred L. Hoch. Subsequently he did graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a Ph.D. degree in 1942. His interests were especially on the functional anatomy of birds. He remained in Berkeley until 1945 as Technical Curator, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, serving also as Biologist with the Crocker Radiation Laboratory. During these years (1942-45), he was Assistant Editor to The Condor. Harvey and Mildred also kept busy raising three sons. In 1944 he began his membership in the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU), became a Fellow in 1950, and was Editor of The Auk from 1948-52.

Harvey's long career in academia and work on Pacific ornithology began in 1945 at the University of Hawaii where he was Assistant Professor until 1948. He concurrently was Curator of Birds at the Bishop Museum and Founding Editor of Pacific Science from 1946-48 plus an exchange professor to the University of Nevada at Reno from 1947-48. He made 16 field excursions to Pacific Ocean sites (Micronesia, Polynesia, Melanesia) between 1945-1972.

In 1948, Harvey moved his family to Illinois and was Associate Professor at the University of Illinois until 1955 when, following a summer of teaching at the University of Omaha, he became Professor and Chair of the Department of Zoology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. With the encouragement and support of SIU President Delyte Morris, Harvey proceeded to greatly expand the Zoology undergraduate and graduate programs consistent with the rapid development of the University. He also saw a need for a biological sciences program and was instrumental in establishing and subsequently chairing (1961-71) that interdepartmental program. Furthermore, Harvey was one of the moving forces for the founding of the Pine Hills Field Station, the modernization of Life Science I, the planning and construction of Life Science II, the establishment of SIU-Edwardsville, and the establishment of the SIU Medical School. He served on numerous local, state, and national committees plus participated in a variety of organizations, including as Chapter President of Sigma Xi, of Phi Kappa Phi, and of the American Association of University Professors. Harvey was on the Board of Editors of the Illinois Biological Monographs from 1952-55 and was Editor of Transactions Illinois State Academy of Science from 1955-60. Funding sources for his research included university grants, American Philosophical Society, American Wildlife Institute, Office of Naval Research, and National Geographic Society.

Harvey was dedicated to his work; once he had an idea, he worked long and hard to get it implemented. Colleagues remember him as energetic, aggressive, reliable, and obliging. He enjoyed art and music, was a prolific reader, and wrote many book reviews for The Auk as well as for publications such as Pacific Science and Science Monthly. He published several technical books and teaching manuals plus approximately 100 papers; the range of topics were broad, about 30% of the publications covered aspects of avian anatomy and functional morphology, 15% focused on the biology of albatrosses, and 20% covered various aspects of Pacific science. Harvey also made educational films, such as with the American Institute of Biological Sciences; one film of which he was most proud was the "Albatross" -- a life history of Diomedea immutabilis produced by SIUC Film Productions in 1967. He supervised several Master's and PhD students plus co-authored with colleagues (e.g., The Myology of the Whooping Crane as well as Functional Anatomy of the Feeding Apparatus in Waterfowl with Donald C. Goodman). With his wife, he co-authored a children's book on the Laysan Albatross in 1974; Mildred authored a book on Laysan Albatross natural history in 1970, based on her experiences on Midway Island, where they conducted field work.

In 1971, Harvey stepped down as Chair of Zoology, having seen the faculty grow from 6 to 25. In 1972, he became Assistant Dean of the SIU Medical School; he retired from Southern Illinois University in 1976 and settled on a farm in northcentral Missouri that he inherited from his parents. Following Mildred's death in May 1990, Harvey married Marjorie I. Potter -- a close friend to both he and Mildred. Harvey died in Boone Medical Center in Columbia, Missouri, on 28 May 1994 after a brief illness. Burial occurred at McCullough Cemetery in Triplett, near where he and Mildred originally settled following retirement from academia. Besides being honored as a Fellow in AOU, Harvey was a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science plus the International Academy of Science.

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Last updated: 26-Jul-05 / ghw