When Mike Fisher began his undergraduate studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he regularly heard about “The Long Gray Line”—a phrase that referenced the lifelong ties that bind every graduate.
“It’s like a feedback loop,” Fisher explained. “You’re part of this when you graduate, but it’s really important you continue to come back—whether that’s in teaching, mentoring, giving or just sharing your perspective.”
The phrase has inspired Fisher, PhD (MGT '00; GRS '13, management), to stay connected not only to West Point, but the school where he earned his EMBA and PhD degrees: Case Western Reserve.
The former chief technology officer and current advisor at Etsy is now an entrepreneur in residence at the university’s Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship, an advisor to Weatherhead School of Management’s xLab and a former adjunct faculty member. More recently, Fisher and his wife, Ashley, created the “Honoring Our Heroes Endowment Fund,” a scholarship designated for veterans seeking doctoral degrees in business management.
A former military aviation officer turned engineering executive, Fisher is passionate about bringing the academic and veteran communities together.
“[In the military] you’re not just taught to be a soldier and not think. … As a military leader, you need to be a scholar,” Fisher said.
Weatherhead’s doctoral programs, as Fisher knows from experience, focus on translating research findings into real-world practice—or vice versa—providing an education that is well-suited to veterans with significant career experience.
“That’s how a lot of military people are,” Fisher said. “They are meant to be the warrior-scholar.”
Originally published in the summer 2023 issue of Forward Thinking magazine