Patricia Fisher '81, appointed acting vice president of Alumni Relations, has served alumni for 22 years through various roles in the Alumni Relations Office.
Following the promotion of David Spalding '76 to chief of staff in the office of President Jim Yong Kim, the search has begun for a new vice president for Alumni Relations. In the interim, senior vice president for Advancement Carolyn Pelzel has tapped Patricia Fisher '81 to take the helm. Fisher will serve as acting vice president for Alumni Relations until a new vice president is named.
Fisher, who lives in Hanover with her three teenage children, grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, the daughter of Ruth and Dr. Lloyd Fisher '52. After graduating from Dartmouth, she moved to Washington, DC, and earned a master's degree in international relations and economics at The Johns Hopkins University of Advanced International Studies.
In 1988, former director of Alumni Affairs Michael Choukas Jr. '51 hired her as assistant director of Alumni Relations at Dartmouth, where she worked closely with the Alumni Council and the Association of Alumni. Fisher was promoted to associate director and then to director of Alumni Leadership. For nearly two decades she worked on alumni governance projects, supporting volunteers, organizing Alumni Council meetings, helping to execute trustee elections, and leading senior alumni committees. In 2007 and 2008 she oversaw the celebration of 35 years of coeducation at Dartmouth in Hanover and San Francisco. In 2007, she became director of Class Activities in Alumni Relations, with responsibility for all class volunteer programs and strategic planning for Reunions.
"I'm very excited to have the opportunity to work more closely with all of the staff here in Alumni Relations," says Fisher. "Our team wants all alumni to feel that they can come back to Dartmouth at any time, and I'm proud to be leading that effort."
Over the next six months, Fisher says she will focus on alumni engagement, the support and stewardship of Alumni Relations volunteers, and collaboration with administrators at peer institutions to strengthen and share best practices.
"The Dartmouth Alumni Relations program is a model," she says. "I love to talk about what we do and how we do it."
Diana Lawrence is the director of the Communications Unit in the Office of Alumni Relations.