Vessel of Life Award

Dr. Fisher Honored for 40-Plus Years of Support

The Medical College of Georgia has presented its 2007 Vessel of Life Award to Dr. Emile Fisher, an Atlanta periodontist and a clinical faculty member in the MCG School of Dentistry.

President Daniel W. Rahn presented the award, which honors professional achievement and contributions to society that enhance MCG’s mission of education, research and service, at the annual President’s Dinner Oct. 20.

Dr. Fisher’s involvement with MCG began came when he struck up a friendship with founding School of Dentistry Dean Judson C. Hickey in the mid-’60s. Dr. Hickey was trying to cultivate statewide support for the fledgling school, and he had his work cut out for him.

“There was a lot of opposition throughout Georgia to opening a dental school in Augusta, so Dean Hickey was going all over the state trying to make friends and convince people that he was just doing his job; it was the state legislature that voted to start a new dental school,” said Dr. Fisher.

Struck by Dr. Hickey’s persistence and optimism, the two became allies.

“We became great friends,” Dr. Fisher said of his support for the dean and his vision of a state-supported dental school. “Tuition had become so expensive at private universities. Georgians desperately needed more dentists from low- and middle-income families who could afford the lower tuition at a state school versus applicants from wealthy families who could afford private universities.”

He joined the clinical faculty and began a scholarship fund that was in place when MCG’s first dental students began their education in 1969 and has benefited every class since.

Since his first gift of $825 nearly 40 years ago, he has given more than $150,000 in scholarships, according to Dale Crail, director of development for the School of Dentistry. An endowment he created will ensure perpetual $1,000 scholarships for five students each year.

“His generosity is truly overwhelming,” said Dean Connie Drisko. “Countless numbers of our students have benefited from not only his generosity, but his knowledge of the field of dentistry. In so many ways, the dental school is a stronger and better institution because of his influence.”

Dr. Fisher also worked with the Georgia Dental Association to form a foundation that would provide scholarships to Georgians interested in dentistry. The association provided $50,000 to form the Georgia Dental Education Foundation in 1985. Since then, the foundation, now known as the Emile T. Fisher Foundation for Dental Education in Georgia, has created an endowment of about $700,000 and provided approximately $360,000 in scholarships.

Dr. Fisher also contributes to scholarships provided by Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the dental honor society, and he recently donated $500,000 toward the School of Dentistry building fund, the largest gift to the building fund to date.
Dr. Fisher also funds scholarships at Wake Forest University, East Carolina University, Renssalear Polytechnic Institute, Emory University and Morehouse College.

Dr. Fisher is the School of Dentistry’s first member of the Milton Antony Guild, MCG’s recognition society that honors donors who include the institution in their estate-planning.

He is an active volunteer for his church, the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip in Buckhead.

-- Jennifer Hilliard