Updated 8/18/08

Jim Fischer enters his 27th season as a head coach at the University of Delaware but will enter his first season as coach of the Blue Hen women's cross country program.

Fischer, who continues to serve as head coach of the UD men's cross country and track and field programs, assumes the reigns of the women's cross country squad this fall, taking over for Sue McGrath-Powell who resigned during the summer.

He will also serve in a new role as Director of UD Running Programs where he will oversee the administrative responsibilities of both the men’s and women’s track & field and cross country programs and assist new women's track and field head coach Wendy McFarlane with the women’s distance runners.

For the first time in school history, the men’s and women’s cross country teams will be coached by the same person.

Prior to his tenure at Delaware he served as head track and assistant football coach at Concordia College (Minn.) for two years. The football team tied for the NAIA Division II National Championship in 1981. He was inducted into the Concordia Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

Since arriving at Delaware in 1982, Fischer has posted outstanding career records. His dual meet records stand at 102-69 in cross country, 121-36-1 in indoor track and field and 29-25-1 in outdoor track and field.

The 1998-99 season was the best ever in Fischer's tenure with the Blue Hens. He led Delaware to the America East indoor track and field title and second place finishes both outdoors and in cross country. His 2000 outdoor track and field team also captured the America East title.

His squads annually battle for the conference track and field titles, finishing at least third every year from 1984 until the Blue Hens moved to the America East in 1991-92 and never placed lower than sixth since then. He has coached 50 indoor and 64 outdoor conference champions.

He has led his teams to five conference titles, winning the 1993, 1994, and 2000 America East outdoor titles and the 1993 and 1999 indoor titles. In addition, 12 of his teams have finished second in the conference meet.

He has been named America East Coach of the Year five times, winning the award for indoor track in 1993 and 1999 and for outdoor track in 1993, 1994, and 2000.

A native of Minnesota and a 1970 graduate of Augsburg College, Fischer is a former University of Minnesota track and field assistant coach and a 10-year track, cross country, basketball, and skiing coach at Robbinsdale (Minn.) HS.

He is a veteran marathon runner and has a world traveler, conducting clinics in Honduras, North Yemen, Egypt, and China. In 1988, he presented a paper to the Seoul Olympic Scientific Congress.

He served as president of the NCAA Division I Cross Country Coaches Association in 1997-98.

In addition, he is the founder and president of the Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame, and an advisor to the Leukemia Society, Delaware Special Olympics.

He is active with USA Track and Field, serving on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Association's High Performance Committee, teaching Level I and Level II Coaching Certification Classes in Endurance and Training Theory, and holding a Level III Certification in Endurance Training. He has been active in training adults from the community since 1984. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Girls on the Run.

An assistant physical education professor at the University of Delaware, Fischer served as the coach of the East track and field coach at the 1991 Olympic Festival in Los Angeles, Calif.

He and his wife, Christine, and her two children reside in Newark, Del.