Updated: July 20, 2026, at 12:34 p.m.
Elizabeth Fisher, a professor emerita of Classical studies and ancient language programs in the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences for 42 years, died on June 11. She was 81.
Fisher, who taught in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations for over half of her life, was a recognized scholar of Greek and Byzantine studies, teaching courses on the Latin and Greek languages, ancient literature and culture at GW. Colleagues and family members remember her as a brilliant educator whose kindness and passion for learning and teaching have left behind a legacy of inspiring others to care about their studies and each other.
Fisher first joined CNELC as an assistant professor of classics in 1978, transitioning to a full professor in 2001 and serving as department chair for 18 years and coordinator of the Classics and Ancient Near Eastern studies program for 14 years. Upon her retirement in 2020, Fisher was awarded the honorary title of professor emerita.
Elise Friedland, CANES director and associate professor of classics and art history who worked closely with Fisher for 18 years, said Fisher often used phrases in Greek and Latin to inspire her students, like signing emails with the Latin phrases “Perge fortiter,” meaning “Carry on bravely,” and “Per aspera ad astra,” translating to “through hardships to the stars.”
“Professor Fisher was an incredible linguist and this, coupled with her gracious and warm personality, made her a talented teacher of ancient languages and literature,” Friedland said in an email.
In 2012, Fisher created an internship to train GW undergraduates as Latin teachers in secondary schools. Interns, with whom Fisher regularly met, learned how to teach Latin through the semester-long program at School Without Walls before writing about their experiences.
Friedland said the internship has encouraged seven interns to become Latin teachers since its inception and has prompted other universities to replicate the program.
Fisher was born on October 25, 1944 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and moved to Gary, Indiana to live with her aunt and uncle at age 16 following the passing of her parents George Lee Fisher and Karleen Fawcett Fisher. She is predeceased by her late husband of over 20 years Robert Hadley, a fellow scholar in Hellenistic history and former faculty member at the University, according to his obituary.
Dale Yale, Hadley’s cousin, said Fisher’s love of learning extended into a “keen interest” into her husband’s family, both while he was alive and after his unexpected passing in 1998. She said Fisher highly valued family connection, finding joy in learning how to best deconstruct lobster when eating it — a special food to Hadley, a Massachusetts native — or site seeing in Salem, Massachusetts close to where Hadley grew up.
Yale said she hopes to replicate the interest Fisher showed for the Hadley family through getting to know Fisher’s cousins and carry on her legacy of displaying care through genuine interest and a desire to learn from others.
“She enjoyed the fact that there were these stories and this history that she had a place in and that she was a part of,” Yale said.
Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies and the Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies awarded Fisher fellowships for her research in 2014, which focused on survival, reception, and reinterpretation of classical literature through translation and imitation, according to CNELC’s website. Fisher also translated literature herself, publishing annotated translations of the works of Michael Psellos, an 11th-century Byzantine scholar.
Fisher graduated high school as valedictorian before attending undergraduate at Northwestern University, where she also graduated as valedictorian, and later received her master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Classical Philology at Harvard University, according to her obituary.
Candice Brown, who met Fisher through St. Alban’s Church in D.C., said Fisher had a deep spiritual life in addition to her academic interests, leading the church’s healing ministry — an arrangement for parishioners to receive spiritual and emotional support through prayer during regular services — for over 20 years before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped in-person services. She said Fisher’s ability to find positive perspectives, grant others the benefit of the doubt and approach situations with a non-judgmental attitude reflected her strong commitment to religious values and made her well fit to lead the healing ministry.
Brown said Fisher’s memorial service, which many parishioners attended, highlighted how much Fisher meant to the church. She said many of Fisher’s former students and colleagues at GW were also present.
“The parish came out in full force,” Brown said. “There were so many people in the parish and people who have moved to other parishes and came back because they remembered her so fondly.”
Brown said Fisher’s ashes have been interred at St. Albans’ columbarium next to her late husband’s. Brown said Fisher would often sit outside the columbarium where Hadley was buried after church services.
Shadow Curley, a senior office assistant for CNELC who took one of Fisher’s ancient Greek classes and later became a Latin and ancient Greek teacher herself, said Fisher’s passion for teaching was infectious, leaving students enthusiastic about their own studies. She said Fisher would always congratulate her students with an excited “εὖγε,” meaning “Well done!” after they finished reading difficult passages aloud.
She said when she became a teacher, she started using the same phrase with her students because of the joy it had brought her as a student.
“I particularly remember our small, intermediate Greek class being such a warm and friendly environment, largely because of the culture that Professor Fisher created through her genuine joy and love for teaching, and through her inspiring mastery of the ancient Greek language,” Curley said.
Fisher is survived by Denis Sullivan, her partner of 20 years, cousins Fawcett, Cindy Albrecht, Carol Albrecht Keintz and Alan Albrecht, brother-in-law John Hadley, cousin-in-law Yale and African grey parrot Tully who is now living at a rescue facility, according to her obituary.
Editor’s Note: If any family members, friends or colleagues of Elizabeth Fisher would like to provide further comment for the story, email The Hatchet at [email protected].
This post has been updated to correct the following:
An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated Fisher became a full-time professor in 2001. Fisher became a full professor in 2001, after spending over 20 years as an assistant professor, but was a full-time employee at GW since joining in 1978. We regret this error.
