Bergen Community College

Bergen Community College horticulture professor Steven Fischer, Ph.D., first developed his love for horticulture when he was a child, tending to fruits and vegetables that were part of his father’s family business. When he attended college at Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture, he studied horticulture and earned his bachelor’s degree in ornamental horticulture.  Fueled by his passion to study horticulture, he pursued and earned both his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Maryland.

Fischer’s career in Bergen Community College’s Horticulture Program began after getting a phone call from Jacob Fisher, the program’s founder. Prior to teaching at Bergen, Fischer taught ornamental horticulture at the State University of New York Farmingdale, where he commuted 55 miles to and from work, each way. 

“We still haven’t really connected how he knew I was displeased with where I was, and that a change would be the thing to do,” said Fischer, who is the current program coordinator of Bergen’s Horticulture Program.

In the Fall of 1977, Fischer came to Bergen where he began teaching alongside Jacob “Jack” Fisher in the new Horticulture Program. Both horticulturists were so close in their teaching that many students and faculty referred to them as the “Fischer Brothers.”

“Jack Fisher and I taught together for nearly 20 years,” said Fischer. “We wound up developing some new certificate programs in addition to the associate’s degree, and so it has progressed into something more than we started with.”

To date, the College offers two associate degrees in horticulture, one certificate in floral design and another in grounds management. Fischer explained that the Horticulture Program courses combine the plant science aspect with business and management, creating well-rounded horticulturists and business people.

“We thrive on the fact that we are an art, a science and a business,” he said. “This is an industry where passion becomes so important. Without passion, you don’t really survive in this industry.”

Coming into Bergen, tending to the Ender Hall Greenhouse and teaching his students, according to Fischer, gives him a reason to put his shoes on in the morning each day. “When I accepted the position here, it wound up becoming 47 years of an enjoyable career,” said Fischer. Throughout his career, Fischer has traveled across the globe, from Cuba to Hawaii, studying plants, soil and other forms of flora and fauna.

“I’m a happy person,” he said while reflecting back on his career. With the same passion that he has with his plants, Fischer made great strides with the Horticulture Program, including the tribute garden to late horticulturist Rachel Carson, which was unveiled behind Ender Hall with a ceremony and speeches in April 2024.

Fischer is prepared to celebrate the Horticulture Program’s 50-year success on October 8 during the anniversary event. Not only will he be celebrating the program itself, but all the successful students who came from it. 

“The success of any plant is based on its root system,” said Fischer. “Without a root system, it can’t succeed. I stress to students that their success is going to come from education.”

Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 24,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.

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