Dr. Al Fisher, Emeritus Professor of Geography, passed away on June 17, 2024 at 98 years old.

After graduating from Granite High School, Professor Fisher served in World War II in Europe. He returned to Utah to earn his BS from the University of Utah, and subsequently studied political geography at Johns Hopkins University where hear earned his MA and PhD.  His post-PhD career included helping establish the Department of Geography at BYU and working for US Naval Intelligence and the CIA. In 1960 he returned to the University of Utah where he was a professor in the Department of Geography until his retirement. Professor Fisher served as the second chair of Geography at the U. His ten years as chair were during a period of growth and prosperity for the department.

Professor Fisher was widely recognized for his scholarly work on political geography and Utah geography. In the early 1980s, he developed an award-winning and pioneering video series on the geography of Utah, along with an accompanying text. He served as a vice president for the new College of the Virgin Islands to help get it up and running while he was on sabbatical from the U, and also served as presidents of the Rocky Mountain-Great Plains Division of AAG, the Western Social Science Association, Phi Kappa Phi, and the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters.

In 1986, Dr. Fisher was interviewed for an oral history project at the U. His memories of the Department of Geography during his time at the U are archived at the Marriott Library.

Marriott Library Archived Interview

Professor Fisher’s obituary and funeral arrangements can be found here.