The Roger D. Fisher Fellowship Fund establishes endowed support for research and teaching fellowships in negotiation and conflict resolution at Harvard Law School.
A long-time member of the Harvard Law School faculty, Roger Fisher (1922-2012) spent his life trying to reduce the risk of war, to resolve international conflicts and conflicts of all kinds and to improve our collective understanding of how we can reconcile and negotiate differences through mutual understanding and agreement.
The purpose of the Roger D. Fisher Fellowship Fund is to honor his life and work by supporting and encouraging new generations to improve, extend, teach and apply the ideas, insights and skills that help us reconcile conflict and reach agreement.
Appointment as a Roger D. Fisher Fellow in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution shall be made solely at the discretion of the Dean of the Harvard Law School and for terms of either one or two consecutive academic years.
Over the course of their appointment, Fellows will be expected and encouraged to add to the canon of ideas, insights and skills of negotiation and conflict resolution, to advance the pedagogy of negotiation, or to articulate a pragmatic approach to the potential resolution of a persistent conflict of public significance. Fellows will also be expected to share the work they conduct as Fellows with other members of the Law School and University community.
The Dean will designate a member of the Harvard Law School faculty, whose experience is relevant and appropriate to the background and experience of each Fellow, to supervise and encourage the work of that Fellow consistent with the purpose of the Fellowship Fund and that individual Fellow’s experience. As a complement to their work, Fellows may also engage in teaching at the Law School as approved by the Dean.
Over time Fellows will be drawn from a diversity of backgrounds, experience and nations, both from the academic community of educators and scholars and from a wide-range of practitioners and professionals with direct experience in conflict resolution, including government and military officials, diplomats, labor negotiators, political leaders, NGO and civic leaders, and unaffiliated individuals.
Suggestions of individuals who have demonstrated academic or practical insights or experience in negotiation and conflict resolution, who are likely to benefit from the opportunity the Fellowship provides and to make contributions consistent with the purpose of the Fellowship Fund, and who would otherwise be unlikely to find their way to Harvard Law School, may be made by members of the faculty or alumni of Harvard Law School, or the Dean may consider such individuals at the Dean’s own initiative. No one individual may be appointed or serve as a Fellow, or be supported by the Fellowship Fund, for more than two consecutive academic years.