[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 5564-5565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF DR. ABRAHAM FISCHLER

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 4, 2017

  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and work of 
my good friend and a most dedicated public servant, Dr. Abraham ``Abe'' 
Fischler, who, sadly, passed away on April 3, 2017. He was 89 years 
old.
  For 22 years, Abe Fischler was President of Nova Southeastern 
University (NSU). There were only 17 students enrolled when Abe joined 
NSU. He became President in 1970 and oversaw NSU's growth into the 
large and well-respected institution that it is today.
  Abe was born in Brooklyn on January 21, 1928. He was a member of the 
``Greatest Generation,'' serving in the United States Navy during the 
Second World War. He married his beloved wife of 68 years, Shirley, in 
1949 and in 1951, graduated with a degree in Biochemistry from the City 
College of New York, eventually earning a Doctorate in Education in 
1959 from Columbia University.
  Among the many innovations Dr. Fischler brought to NSU was the 
development of a long-distance learning program. Abe thought there 
should be a way for professionals who wanted to pursue advanced degrees 
to do so without having to leave their jobs. We didn't have the 
prevalence of internet technologies we do now at the time, so Abe would 
actually have the university fly adjunct instructors to various spots 
around the country to teach small groups of students outside of regular 
business hours. At the time, this was very unusual, but today, long 
distance education is both common and expected at most institutions of 
higher learning. Abe Fischler was one of the first to do it.
  In 1992, Abe retired from NSU, but he did not spend his retirement 
idly watching the world go by. By 1994, he was back in the thick of it, 
and got elected to the Broward

[[Page 5565]]

County School Board, where he would serve for four years. He continued 
to be involved in educational issues, as well as his involvement with 
Nova Southeastern as President Emeritus until his passing.
  Dr. and Shirley Fischler have four children, four grandchildren and 
one great-grandson. My own son holds a Doctorate from, and is part of, 
the Nova Southeastern Family I am honored to have worked with Abe 
Fischler and to have represented him in Congress. He was a wonderful 
friend and will be dearly missed.

                          ____________________