Harvard Law Prof Who Co-Wrote 'Getting to Yes' Dies at 90
Roger Fisher, a Harvard law professor known for conflict resolution, has died from complications of dementia at the age of 90.
Fisher co-wrote Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, the New York Times reports. “Over his career,” the Times says, “Professor Fisher eagerly brought his optimistic can-do brand of problem solving to a broad array of conflicts across the globe, from the hostage crisis in Iran to the civil war in El Salvador. … It did not matter to Professor Fisher whether the warring parties reached out to him or not; he would assume they needed his help.”
Fisher suggested a negotiating method that helped lead to the Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel, helped initiate President Reagan’s 1985 summit with Mikhail Gorbachev, and led workshops leading to the end of apartheid in South Africa, the story says.
Fisher decided to dedicate his life to avoiding war after seeing the aftermath of battle as an Army volunteer doing weather reconnaissance in World War II, according to the Times. Four of his college roommates at Harvard died in the war.
