The Dwight D. Eisenhower Service to Democracy Award
The Service to Democracy Award is presented to national leaders who exemplify President Eisenhower's founding principle when he established The American Assembly: "to reconcile divergent views in order to accomplish a common purpose."
2006
Richard W. Fisher
President, CEO - Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Richard W. Fisher accepting the award in Dallas, October 18, 2006
Richard W. Fisher, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, received The American Assembly's Service to Democracy Award at a dinner in his honor on October 18, 2006, at the James M. Collins Executive Education Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
The American Assembly voted to bestow this honor upon Mr. Fisher due to his service to the public good in increasingly complex roles as an Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, as Ambassador and Deputy United States Trade Representative and now at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. His accomplishments during these assignments represent a record of commitment to public service at the highest levels, said Assembly Chairman Stephen Stamas.
Mr. Stamas also noted that Mr. Fisher, while serving as an American Assembly trustee, created the Next Generation Project, a national, multi-year initiative that is one of The Assembly's most ambitious undertakings. The Next Generation Project is an examination of the global threats and challenges faced by the United States in the 21st century and the institutional responses that are required.
Mr. Fisher has served as the Dallas Fed's President and CEO since April 2005. He is former Vice Chairman of Kissinger McLarty Associates, a strategic advisory firm chaired by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. He served as U.S. Trade Representative with the rank of ambassador from 1997 to 2001, during which time he oversaw the implementation of NAFTA and various agreements with Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Chile and Singapore. He was the principal deputy for negotiating the bilateral accords that led to both China's and Taiwan's entry into the World Trade Organization.
Mr. Fisher also has served on numerous public service boards in Dallas, such as Goodwill Industries, Boys Clubs, the Dallas Museum of Art and the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies at Southern Methodist University.
The son of immigrant parents with no formal education, Mr. Fisher attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduated from Harvard University, read Latin American politics at Oxford and received an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
