Joseph L. Fisher

Joe Fisher
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 10th district
In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	Joel Broyhill
Succeeded by	Frank Wolf
Personal details
Born	January 11, 1914(1914-01-11) Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Died	February 19, 1992(1992-02-19) (aged 78) Arlington, Virginia
Alma mater	Bowdoin College Harvard University George Washington University
Religion	Unitarian

Joseph Lyman (Joe) Fisher (January 11, 1914 – February 19, 1992) is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He was a Democrat from Virginia.

Fisher was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, graduating in 1935 with an economic degree. After several years working at an accounting firm, Fisher was hired by the National Resource Planning Board in 1939. He was promoted to become an economist for the U.S. Department of State in 1942. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 to serve in World War II.

Fisher returned to the United States once war ended and earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He was then hired by the Council of Economic Advisors and, after furthering his education at George Washington University, became the senior economist at this organization in 1951. In 1953, Fisher left to found a non-profit think tank known as Resources for the Future, Inc. A lifelong Unitarian, Fisher was an active volunteer lay leader in the Unitarian Universalist Association serving on the UUA's Board of Trustees and as moderator (the highest volunteer position in the UUA) from 1964 until 1977.

In 1974, Fisher was elected to Congress from Virginia's 10th congressional district. He served for three terms until his defeat at the hands of Republican Frank Wolf in November 1980. He went on to establish the Economic Policy Department at The Wilderness Society, a U.S. non-governmental organization, bringing a first-of-its-kind professional scientific focus to the wildland conservation community. Afterward, Fisher was appointed Virginia Secretary of Human Resources in 1982 and then became an economics professor at George Mason University in 1986. He died in Arlington, Virginia in 1992.

References

• Joseph L. Fisher at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Fox, Stephen. “We Want No Straddlers.” Wilderness 48.167 (1984): 5-19.

External links

• Joseph L. Fisher at Find a Grave