Katherine Fischer Drew, PhD.

Katherine entered the Rice Institute at age 16 and completed her BA and MA in 1944 and 1945 respectively. She instructed there for two years then attended Cornell University earning her PhD. in 1950. There she met her future husband, Ron.

She returned to Rice to become the first woman on the faculty and helped develop the history and humanities department to national recognition. During her career she was recognized for: Editor, Rice University Studies, 1967-1981; Acting Dean of Humanities and Social Science 1973; Chairman of History Department 1970-1980; Acting Chairman of Department of Art and Art History 1996-1998: and Lynette S. Autrey Professor of History 1985-1996.

Among her awards and honors were: Phi Beta Kappa 1943; Guggenheim Fellow 1959; American Philosophical Society Grants 1961, ’63, ’67 and ’78; Fulbright Scholar 1965; Resident Scholar, Rockefeller Foundation’s Villa Serbelloni Center, Bellagio, Italy; Brown Teaching Award; Senior Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities; Elected Fellow, Medieval Academy of America; and the Association of Rice Alumni Meritorious University Service Awards.

She was the author of several books including the Burgundian Code, 1944; The Lombard Laws, 1973; and Magna Carta, 2004.

As a post-script for those assistants, students and friends who knew and respected her good counsel, Katherine once delivered a more direct approach to critique and counseling as a child. As a class bully picked on her younger sister, Katherine jumped into the fray and slugged the boy who was her sister’s tormentor. And away to the principal she went.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Ronald Drew; her parents, Herbert H. and Martha (Halloway) Fischer; and her siblings, Herbert F. and Mary Fischer.

She is survived by her nephews, Carl F. and wife Mary (Sapp) Fischer and Donald H. and wife Sherry (McFarland) Fischer.

The family will gather for a private interment at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.