Matt Fisher is a professor of chemistry at Saint Vincent College, where he has taught since 1995. He received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Temple University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Fisher was chemistry department chair for seven years and the director of Saint Vincent College’s Teaching Enhancement and Mentoring Program for a similar length of time. He has been a leader in a national STEM education reform project, Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) for almost two decades.
Dr. Fisher has been active in the American Chemical Society since 1996. He served as a member of the ACS committee on Environmental Improvement (CEI) for over a decade, where he helped lead CEI’s efforts in education and chaired the committee. Dr. Fisher has also served as a member of the ACS Committee on Science where he chaired the Public Policy Subcommittee and served as Committee Chair. In 2005 Dr. Fisher was selected as a Carnegie Scholar by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and spent a year working to connect topics in undergraduate biochemistry to public policy, public health, and institutional/personal values in support of integrative learning. He has given presentations at conferences and facilitated workshops on integrative learning in the context of undergraduate science courses as well as publishing book chapters and articles on his work in SENCER.
Education
PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison BA, Temple University
Courses
General Chemistry I General Chemistry II Introduction to Biochemistry Proteins and Metabolism (lecture and lab) Nucleic Acids and Membranes (lecture and lab)
Awards
Boniface Wimmer Faculty Award, Saint Vincent College (2025) William E. Bennett Award for Extraordinary Contributions to Citizen Science, National Center for Science and Civic Engagement (2018) Thoburn Excellence in Teaching Award, Saint Vincent College (2015) Fellow, American Chemical Society (2015) ACS-CEI Award for Incorporating Sustainability into Chemistry Education (2015) Carnegie Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2005)
Selected Publications
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Scientists, Engineers, and Mathematicians by Jacqueline M. Dewar, Curtis D. Bennett, and Matthew A. Fisher. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2018
Matthew A. Fisher. “Educating for Scientific Knowledge, Awakening to a Citizen’s Responsibility” in Citizenship Across the Curriculum edited by Michael B. Smith, Rebecca S. Nowacek, and Jeffrey L. Bernstein. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010
Steven J. Gravelle and Matthew A. Fisher. “Signature Pedagogies in Chemistry” in Exploring More Signature Pedagogies, ed. Nancy Chick, Aeron Haynie, and Regan Gurung. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publications, 2012
Matthew A. Fisher. “Connecting Head, Hand, and Heart: SENCER and Becoming a Chemist” in Science Education and Civic Engagement: The Next Level, ed. Richard D. Sheardy and Wm. David Burns. ACS Symposium Series 1121; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2012; DOI: 10.1021/bk-2012-1121.ch006
Matthew A. Fisher, “Chemistry and the Challenge of Sustainability”, Journal of Chemical Education (2012) 89, 179-180; DOI: 10.1021/ed2007923
Matthew A. Fisher. “Public Health and Biochemistry: Connecting Content, Issues, and Values for Majors” in Connected Science: Strategies for Integrative Learning in College edited by Tricia A. Ferrett, David Geelan, Whitney M. Schlegel, and Joanne L. Stewart. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013
Matthew A. Fisher. "Systems Thinking and Educating the Heads, Hands, and Hearts of Chemistry Majors", Journal of Chemical Education (2019) 96, 2715-2719; DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00346
Matthew A. Fisher. “Adverse Outcome Pathways: Connecting Sustainability, Green Chemistry, Toxicology and Undergraduate Biochemistry” in Chemistry Education for a Sustainable Future Volume 2: Innovations in Undergraduate Curricula, ed. Sherine O. Obare, Catherine H. Middlecamp, and Keith E. Peterman. ACS Symposium Series 1345; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2020; DOI: 10.1021/bk-2020-1345.ch004
