Scholarship and Biography

Fischer has been on the faculty of Brandeis University for 50 years, where he is known for being interested in his students and history.


He is best known for two major works: Albion's Seed (1989), and Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History) (2004). In Albion's Seed, he argues that core aspects of American culture stem from four British folkways and regional cultures and that their interaction and conflict have been decisive factors in U.S. political and historical development. In Washington's Crossing, Fischer provides a narrative of George Washington's leadership of the Continental Army during the winter of 1776–1777 during the American Revolutionary War.


He was admitted as an honorary member of The Society of the Cincinnati in 2006. He is a member of the board of College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Honors

Prize for Scholarship
Ingersoll Foundation, 1996
Grant
National Endowment for the Humanities (United States, Washington D.C.) - NEH, 1978
Director, Summer Seminar
National Endowment for the Humanities (United States, Washington D.C.) - NEH, 1979
Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of Amerian History 1985
University of Oxford (United Kingdom, Oxford), 1985
Theodore Saloutos Book Award for best work published in American immigration history: (Albion's Seed)
Immigration and Ethnic History Society (United States, Ithaca) - IEHS, 1989
Louis Dembitz Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 1990
Massachusetts CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) and Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year
Council for Advancement and Support of Education (United States, Washington D.C.) - CASE, 1990
Albion's Seed
National Society of The Colonial Dames of America (United States, Washington D.C.) - NSCDA, 1990
Fellowship
Fulbright Association (United States, Washington D.C.), 1993
Alternate Selection (Paul Revere's Ride)
Book of the Month, 1993
Life Member, Bodleian Library
University of Oxford (United Kingdom, Oxford), 1993
Notable Book of the Year - Paul Revere's Ride
New York Times (United States, Manhattan), 1994
Fellow
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (United States, Cambridge), 1995
Award for (Paul Revere's Ride): Award, Irving Medal for Literary Distinction, Old North Church Lantern Award, Boston Public Library Literary Light
Boston Public Library (United States, Boston) - BPL, 1996
Prize for overall excellence (Albion's Seed)
Association of University Presses (United States, New York) - AAUP, 1996
Richard M. Weaver Award for Scholarly Letters to recognize an author of abiding importance
Ingersoll Foundation, 1996
Kidger Prize for Teaching
Massachusetts Teachers Association, 1997
Fenn Foundation Award "for teaching and research on Lexington Alarm Research Project"
Cleveland Foundation (United States, Cleveland), 1998
Pulitzer prize in History for "Washington's Crossing"
Pulitzer Arts Foundation (United States, St Louis), 2005
Main selection (Paul Revere's Ride)
History Book Club, 2005
Irving Kristol Prize
American Enterprise Institute (United States, Washington D.C.) - AEI, 2006
Elected to membership
Century Association , 2006
Honorary life member
Society of the Cincinnati (United States, Washington D.C.), 2006
Member of the "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres"; with the rank of "Commandeur";, by decree of the "Minister de la culture et communication" Christine Albanel,
Ministry of Culture (France, Paris), 2009
Doctor of Humane Letters
University of Maine at Fort Kent (United States, Fort Kent) - UMFK, 2014
Pritzger Prize ($100,000) for scholarship in Military history
Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation (United States, Chicago) - PTFF, 2015

Organizational Affiliations

University Professor and Earl Warren Professor of History, Emeritus, Department of History, Brandeis University

Education

Johns Hopkins University
Ph.D.
Princeton University
B.A.