Meet Debra A. Fisher, Ph.D.
Debra A. Fisher, Ph.D.
Debra Fisher, Ph.D. is a research collaborator/analyst, qualitative research methodologist, adult learning theorist and educator, writer, and developmental editor. Many in the higher education community refer to Dr. Fisher as the Good Mother. Her two loves of people and scholarship are foundational to how she lives out the Good Mother archetype, which has less to do with age and gender and more to do with an attitude of caring for the other. Whether facilitating face-to-face or online learning with students or faculty members, Dr. Fisher grounds her instructional approach in brain-based research principles and an intimate knowledge of the adult learning experience. Her passion for discovering and sharing emerging knowledge helps her inspire scholars of all backgrounds and disciplines to approach their work with open minds and hearts while confidently embracing their role as knowledge generators. A master communicator and poet, Dr. Fisher utilizes the linguistic devices of analogy and metaphor as cognitive bridges when interacting with doctoral learners as they conceive problems with scientific merit, design and conduct research, and communicate their findings through written and oral deliverables.
Dr. Fisher has been engaged in the academic community, supporting novice and seasoned scholars, for more than 20 years. She founded CastleBridge Research Consulting (previously known as CastleBridge Communications) for the purpose of helping scholars conceive, conduct, and communicate research. Her background as an instructional designer for online learning has served her clients well through the development of university cohort webinars on a variety of topics, including conducting and writing the literature review, determining methodological fit and appropriate research designs for qualitative studies, and utilizing qualitative data analysis (QDA) programs. She is proficient in the use of the QDA program ATLAS.ti 9 for managing big and little data while using various techniques for analyzing qualitative data.
Dr. Fisher was among a small cadre of scholars, including Grand Canyon University’s longest-tenured president, Dr. Bill Williams, who founded Canyon Institute for Advanced Studies (CIAS), a Christian interdisciplinary research center. CIAS collaborated with the John Templeton Foundation for the purpose of administering The Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research of Discoveries about Spiritual Realities between 2001 and 2008. In her roles as the Institute’s Executive Manager, Director of Public Education and Communications, and Research Associate, Dr. Fisher collaborated with scholars from various disciplines to make their research accessible to undergraduate students and the general public through newsletters, lectures, and symposia. These interdisciplinary interactions shaped her approach to adult learning in that she challenges her clients to seek knowledge across and between disciplines.
With an entrepreneurial spirit, Dr. Fisher was quick to create a home for her dissertation research. Rather than settling for a place on the proverbial bookshelf, she founded the nonprofit organization Krisis Institute for Community Readiness, Response, and Recovery. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, Krisis Institute is committed to the safety and survival of all community members in the aftermath of worst-case disasters caused by terrorism and natural processes in the universe. Krisis Institute is the manifestation of Dr. Fisher’s ground-breaking work in disaster research/emergency management with her dissertation Adult Public Education for Nuclear Terrorism: An Analysis of Cold War and War on Terror Preparedness Discourses. This interdisciplinary research integrated disaster research, emergency management, and adult learning theory for the purpose of developing a theory of public/community preparedness education for worst-case scenarios such as nuclear terrorism. Academically, Dr. Fisher earned her B.A. degree from Grand Canyon University (summa cum laude, education/English/philosophy); her MS Ed from Capella University (instructional design for online learning and adult learning); and her Ph.D. from Capella University (professional/interdisciplinary studies).
Children with special needs and dogs hold special places in Dr. Fisher’s heart and service to her community. She is the founder of the first living memorial for Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH), devoted to the memory of her four-year-old son, Michael Anthony, who died from complications of adult leukemia. She also served on the PCH Children’s Cancer Center Board of Directors. More recently, Dr. Fisher has found a way to serve children with special needs, including those living with cancer and hearing impairments, with the help of a dog. She and her first Golden Retriever, Gracie, served as a therapy dog team for almost 10 years. Since Gracie’s life and service ended in March of 2017, Dr. Fisher is now raising and training another Golden Retriever, Caleb, to serve alongside her as a therapy dog.
Global Specializations and Projects
For more than 17 years, Dr. Fisher has served scholars/educators and business/government leaders from more than 20 countries who represent a broad spectrum of disciplines and spheres of influence, including:
university presidents, college deans, and faculty members;
research scholars at institutes for advanced studies;
public/private school administrators and faculty members;
business/corporate executives;
government/public health/homeland security/emergency management policy makers, administrators, and practitioners;
medical researchers, healthcare professionals, and clinical product specialists.
Underlying the Accomplishments: Scholarly Mentors
Dr. Fisher has been fortunate through the years to view academia atop the shoulders and through the minds of some insightful scholars. Their perspectives on leadership and stewarding with care have shaped how she serves her clients.
Dr. Bill R. Williams, former President/Chancellor of Grand Canyon University and Founder of Canyon Institute for Advanced Studies, imparted powerful images for how one should position herself to live purposefully. One such metaphoric image that is forever etched in Dr. Fisher's mind relates to leadership. Dr. Williams used a nautical metaphor to explain the importance of designing and building one's hull so as to cut a deep and wide wake that will pull others up (friend and foe alike) while pressing toward the horizon of higher calling. Interactions with Dr. Williams, a theoretical mathematician, and scholars of every stripe who contributed to and benefitted from the work at Canyon Institute for Advanced Studies shaped and reshaped Dr. Fisher's thinking about how knowledge is generated and utilized for the betterment of humankind. Rather than an orderly and prescriptive system of mere existence, the human experience is characterized by a complex and chaotic reality that invites us to co-create that which is good.
Dr. Nelson L. Haggerson, Jr. (1927-2009), former Professor and Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University, referred his doctoral students to Dr. Fisher for assistance with their dissertations. While waiting to enter a crowded restaurant to celebrate with a student her successful oral defense of her dissertation, Dr. Haggerson whispered to Dr. Fisher, "You know why I entrust them to you, don't you? Like me," he explained, "you know your role as the Good Mother and live it out with great care and stewardship." Enacting the Good Mother archetype has less to do with age and gender and more to do with an attitude of caring for the other (Buber, 1970; Noddings, 1986, 2003).