In 1981 Nancy Ward Fischer and her late husband, Dodd Fischer, cofounded Storables, Inc.: the Portland-based specialty retail chain. Ms. Fischer also oversees a family forest in St. Helens, Oregon.

Ms. Fischer graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1966 with a BA in Experimental Psychology. Her daughter, Alexandra “Paige” Fischer, earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in forest resources from OSU in 2004 and 2007, respectively. She is a professor at the University of Michigan – School for Environment and Sustainability. Her daughter, Cameron Fischer, is an instructor in human development and family sciences at OSU-Cascades.

Ms. Fischer is a founding member of the ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) Foundation Oregon Chapter and has been a member of the Knight Cancer Institute Council. She has also served as a member of the OHSU Foundation board and the Reed College Women’s Committee.