Process and Progress through the Liberal Arts - Hartwick College

Follow the Lead … of an open Mind
Meet five* global citizens; all engaged in international business, international affairs,
or international study. Before launching their impressive careers and rewarding lives,
they were chosen as Fulbright Scholars. Before the Fulbright, there was Hartwick.
*Since 1980, 21 Hartwick students have been selected to be Fulbright Scholars.
Lori Fisher ’80 has a story to tell. One of Hartwick’s first two Fulbright Scholars, Fisher’s wanderlust began in
Vienna with German Professor Wendell Frye, relishing the academic program abroad that he still leads as a J Term for Hartwick students.
“It was an incomparable experience,” Fisher recalls. “I had a taste of living in another culture.” One bite was far from enough.
“I came straight back to Hartwick, went to the Dean’s office and said, ‘I have to go
back; how do I get a Fulbright?’” She says, “Mary Beth Zollars ’80 and I were on
that early J Term program together—we both applied for a Fulbright and we both
got it.” Zollars returned to Austria; Fisher moved to Germany to study Modern
German Poetry. (A music major, Zollars earned a Master’s degree in German and
became a high school German language teacher in Pennsylvania.)
“A Fulbright is a formative experience, a defining experience,” Fisher explains.
“Really any international experience helps you be open to others. Once you realize
what it’s like to live outside your own experience, once you realize there is so much
more beyond your native culture, you carry that always.”
Fisher chose Hartwick for its English program, “expecting to be a poor poet,” she
says. She immersed herself in the program, becoming president of the Writing Club
and editor/co-editor of the literary club and student newspaper. One of her favorite
enterprises was The Writing Center, which she coordinated with the guidance
of Professor of English Robert Benson. “He took personal interest in students’
dedication to his subject; he helped us love it and breathe it,” she remembers. Fisher graduated
with a major in German as well as English, as a John Christopher Hartwick Scholar, and winner
of the Anna Sonder Prize of the Academy of American Poets, and the Kellogg Oratorical Prize.
“At Hartwick, as a small school, you can take a lot of responsibility, a lot of initiative,” she says.
“It’s a very customized education that trains you to be an active participant in your life. You have
opportunities to make the experience what you want and that’s great prep for your career.”
After the Fulbright, Fisher earned a Master’s degree in English Summa Cum Laude from the
University of Iowa. The lure of a challenge drew her toward the rapidly-growing field of technical
writing. Today Fisher is Executive Director of User Technology for IBM Corp. She manages
technical writers and user interface designers and is responsible for 200 employees in the U.S.
and across the world in Canada, India, China, Germany, and England.
16 | The Wick | Summer 2012
Lori Fisher ’80 celebrating her “Quarter Century” (with IBM).
Executive Director of User Technology the Software Group
at IBM Corp. San Jose, CA
English and German major
Master’s degree in Expository Writing, University of Iowa
Master’s Certificate in Project Management, The George
Washington University School of Business
J Term on San Salvador Island to study West Indian
(Caribbean) Literature with Dr. Robert Bensen
J Term in Vienna with Dr. Wendell Frye
Fulbright in Germany
“I’m in technology, not with an engineer’s brain but with a liberal arts brain,” Fisher asserts. “That means I bring a whole new perspective.
Studying the liberal arts is about analysis, content, and meaning; I see context and connections.
“I learned how to learn at Hartwick,” this IBM executive adds with appreciation, noting that most of what she knew about technology 20
years ago is obsolete. Another benefit: “I am at an advantage in my work all the time because I can communicate well. It’s an absolute asset in
business.”