When John E. Fischer ’77 graduated from Franklin & Marshall College, the accounting major went to work immediately at a manufacturing company in York County, Pennsylvania. He was hired by the firm’s controller, a 1973 F&M alumnus who was a few years older than him.  

“Robert Donohoe is someone I knew in the working world, someone who was a mentor for me for about the first eight or nine years that I worked,” Fischer says. “He had interviewed me and hired me through an on-campus interview.”

A few years later, the firm was acquired by the Olin Corporation, where Fischer spent more than 35 years, retiring in 2021 as chairman and CEO.

During that time, and almost immediately after starting his career, Fischer began contributing to the College. John and his wife, Dotti, have given generously to the Diplomatic Athletic Club, Franklin & Marshall Fund and financial aid.

In honor of Fischer’s mentor and colleague, John and Dotti established the Robert E. Donohoe ’73 Endowed Scholarship Fund, and then followed with the Fischer Family Endowed Scholarship, both supporting financial aid in perpetuity.

“We give endowed scholarships because they do exist into perpetuity and we both believe that when you look at the demographic challenges and the economic challenges that the broader college education industry in the United States is facing, endowed scholarships are going to be the key to survival going down the road,” Fischer says. 

The couple, married more than 40 years, also established a Fischer Family Endowed Scholarship at York College, where Dotti, a first-generation student, graduated and serves on the board.

“We give scholarships because we want the schools to be able to reach out to as many students as possible,” Dotti says. 

College provides unquestionable opportunities, but John says F&M’s specific educational qualities made a significant difference in his professional career.

“When I got out into the working world, Franklin & Marshall more than proved its worth,” he recalls. “I started working in a cost accounting department the same day as someone who graduated from Penn State with an accounting degree. I was years ahead of him from day one, just based on the education that I had gotten and the experience that I had at Franklin & Marshall.”