This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
The economics and business department invites the campus to attend a talk by James R. Fisher ’77, founder of Fisher Capital Corporation, as part of the CIRCLE Entrepreneurship Lecture Series. The free lecture, “Building a Legacy: From Private Equity to Artificial Turf,” will be held 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28 in Oeschle Hall auditorium.
CIRCLE was organized in 2002 to provide seminars for the College community concerning various aspects of entrepreneurship. Attendees have the opportunity to hear from Lafayette alumni and other professionals who have started their own businesses or were involved in turning an existing business around.
A member of the Lafayette Board of Trustees, Fisher heads Fisher Capital Corp. LLC, Cranbury, N.J., an affiliate of the investment firm of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., which assists in identifying and analyzing investment opportunities in financial services. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Alea Group Holdings, A.G. (Alea) and Bristol West Holdings, Inc., where he serves as Chairman. Fisher also serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee of Alea.
From 1986 through March 1997, Fisher was a senior executive at American Re Corporation and served most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of American Re-Insurance Company (American Re) and American Re Corporation, President of American Re Financial Products, and President and Chief Executive Officer of American Re Asset Management. He also had responsibility for the Systems and Services Division, Human Resources Division, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Division of American Re-Insurance Company, Am-Re Managers of Bermuda, and The Becher + Carlson Companies (an insurance broker and captive and risk management company).
Fisher oversaw all of American Re’s corporate finance activities (over $6 billion in financing), sponsored many of its new business initiatives and the structuring and placement of all of American Re’s retrocessional programs (approximately $400 million in annual ceded premium per year). Prior to joining American Re, Fisher was Director of Insurance Industry Services at Price Waterhouse.
An economics and business graduate, Fisher is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has provided naming gifts to the College for Fisher Hall East and Fisher Hall West, and was a leading contributor to the renovation of Fisher Field at Fisher Stadium.
He and his wife, Tracey, endowed two funds at Lafayette during the Lafayette Leadership Campaign, a scholarship named for Jim’s parents, James J. and Frances D. Fisher, and a fund in their own names that benefits Lafayette’s varsity athletics programs. They are also Sustaining Members of the Marquis Society and were inducted into the Société d’Honneur in 1999.
The CIRCLE Entrepreneurship Lecture Series is sponsored by the Robert F. Hunsicker Education fund. Members of the current CIRCLE committee are Meghan Mannion ’07 (Garden State, N.Y.), an economics and business major; Meghan Morel ’07 (Williston, Vt.), a double major in government & law and economics & business; Jonathan Farrar ’07 (Alexandria, Va.), who is pursuing a B.S. in physics and an A.B. in mathematics; Dani Goldberg ’07 (Englishtown, N.J.), a double major in economics & business and psychology; Tomas Bielskis ’07 (Siauliai, Lithuania), a mathematics-economics major; and Leanne Fredericks ’09 (West Milford, N.J.), a Spanish major. They are advised by Sheila Handy, assistant professor of economics and business.
Previous CIRCLE lecturers include Ray Foley, publisher of Bartender magazine,Hal Singer of Criterion Economics, and three Easton business owners who discussed their experiences founding Lipkins Furniture, Genesis Bicycles, and Cosmic Cup.