Kim N. Fisher, who in June was appointed the first Paterno family librarian in English and American literature at Penn State, died Friday, Jan. 7, as a result of a pedestrian/automobile accident while walking his dog near his home in Lemont, an area near State College. He was 51.
Fisher joined the Penn State Libraries faculty in 1984, serving first as an acquisitions librarian and, beginning in 1990, as a humanities librarian, where he developed and managed the collections in English and American literature, theatre and film. The endowed position he held recognized his academic excellence within the area of literature.
He chaired several committees within the Libraries and was active in professional organizations at the national level. He received his bachelor's degree in English in 1970, a master of library science degree in 1972 from the University of Kentucky, and a master's degree in English in 1981 from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Before coming to Penn State, he held a number of positions as a librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University from 1972 to 1980, then worked for a year as a reference librarian at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. From 1981 to 1984, he was the head of the humanities division in the library at Oklahoma State University.
Memorial contributions may be made to either the Paterno Libraries Endowment, Office of the Dean, Penn State Libraries, 510 Paterno Library, University Park Pa. 16802, or to the Acoustic Brew Coffeehouse, Box 1090, Lemont Pa. 16851.