We are sorry to share the recent passing of Dr. Elizabeth Ann Fisher, professor and department chair at the George Washington University’s Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Dr. Fisher received a CAAS ovatio in 2019. Her obituary is available at https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/washington-dc/elizabeth-fisher-12935205. The text of the 2019 ovatio can be found below Dr. Fisher’s photo.

Ovatio: Elizabeth A. Fisher

Nunc est ovandum, nunc grato animo pulsanda mensa, ut laudemus hanc feminam, humilem sed eruditissimam, sodales. Adepta gradum Baccalaureae Artis apud universitatem quaerentem quaecumque sint vera, propinquam ventosae urbi in horto, tunc attinuit apud universitatem Veritate insignem, propinquam fabarum oppido, gradus Magistrae Artis Doctorisque Philosophiae. Illuminavit opera scriptorum Byzantinorum luculentissime, apud docta domicilia consecrata investigandis et explicandis litteris Graecis per multa saecula, et in scribendo dicendoque. Multas per gentes, multa per aequora vecta, summo studio servivit universitati proclamanti deum nobis fiduciam, fulciens et fovens disciplinam non solum linguarum sed etiam sententiarum Romanorum Graecorumque. Sustinendis magistris linguae Latinae et studiis classicis ipsis locuplevit et discipulos et professores in hac regione, et in nostra societate. Plaudamus igitur Elizabeth A. Fisher.

Now, companions, an ovation must be delivered, now with grateful hearts our tables must be pounded, so that we may praise this woman, modest but extraordinarily learned. Having received her BA degree at Northwestern University, she then obtained her MA and PhD degrees at Harvard. Her scholarship—recognized as distinguished by fellowships from Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies and the Center for Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks; and shared in numerous publications, conference papers, and invited talks—has brilliantly cast light on the writings of such authors as Michael Psellos and Maximus Planudes. Exploring remote classical and Byzantine sites, she has also traveled extensively throughout eastern Turkey and Syria. As department chair, she invested immense energies in keeping the Classics program alive and well at The George Washington University; she also has taught its courses in both ancient languages and on literature and culture in translation. Her support for secondary school Latin at the School Without Walls, and for university-level research through her leadership of the Washington-area Ancient Mediterranean Seminar, has greatly enriched our region and organization. Let us thus applaud Elizabeth A. Fisher.

Judith P. Hallett and Denis Sullivan, University of Maryland, College Park, and John Ziolkowski, The George Washington University