Lt. Governor Lee Fisher' Biography

Lt. Governor Lee Fisher’s career has spanned the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. In addition to serving as Governor Ted Strickland’s Lieutenant Governor, Fisher is the Director of the Ohio Department of Development, and leads the state’s efforts to retain, attract, and create jobs and grow Ohio’s economy.

He has more than 14 years of public service, serving as Ohio Attorney General, State Senator and State Representative. Lt. Governor Fisher also has worked as a private attorney, public company board director, and as a federal appellate law clerk.

Prior to becoming Lieutenant Governor and State Development Director, Lt. Governor Fisher served as the President and CEO of the Center for Families and Children in Cleveland for seven years. In that position, he received the “Nonprofit Executive of the Year Award,” and the “Visionary Innovation in Business Award” from Smart Business Magazine for his innovative and entrepreneurial leadership of the Center for Families and Children.

As a freshman legislator 27 years ago, he was voted by his legislative colleagues and the Statehouse Press Corps as Ohio’s “Outstanding Freshman Legislator,” in a survey by Columbus Monthly Magazine. As a state legislator, Lee authored more than 10 Ohio laws, including the Missing Children Law; the Hate Crime Law; the Crime Victims Assistance Law; the Hospice Licensure Law; and the Child Safety Seat Law.

As Attorney General, he created the award-winning Operation Crackdown program, shutting down hundreds of dangerous drug houses throughout Ohio. Lee also established the first-ever statewide law enforcement conference, which is now an annual tradition in Ohio’s law enforcement community. He was well known in the business community for his “Early Warning System,” a program that allowed businesses the opportunity to resolve issues without the threat of litigation.

Lt. Governor Fisher was a Chase Public Leadership Fellow at Harvard University’s Program for Senior Executives in state and local government, and is a graduate of the Case Weatherhead School of Management’s Professional Fellows Program. He was also a Case Presidential Fellow and taught undergraduate seminars in leadership and collaboration.

Raised in the Cleveland area, Lt. Governor Fisher graduated from Oberlin College, and earned both his law degree and his master’s degree of nonprofit organization from Case Western Reserve University. Lee Fisher is married to Peggy Zone Fisher, the President and CEO of the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio. They have a son, Jason, who is a recent graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, and a daughter, Jessica, who is in high school.

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