As the deputy district engineer and the chief of the planning, programs, and project management division, Mr. Steve Fischer assists the district commander in water resources development in the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana, an area of about 5,000 square miles with a population of more than nine million. The district’s primary mission focuses on flood risk management and storm damage reduction, navigation, environment, regulatory, navigation, emergency management, and interagency and international services.
Mr. Fischer has more than 32 years of professional experience, in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining the Chicago District, he served as the acting chief of the planning and business development branch of the planning and policy division at USACE headquarters. Previous assignments in his USACE career include several senior level positions in the Savannah, Detroit, Walla Walla, and Kansas City districts, and the Northwestern Division. He began his USACE career in 2005 at the Kansas City District, where he worked as the water quality program manager and as the senior program manager - Missouri River Recovery Program.
Prior to joining USACE, he worked with private industry, academic institutions (Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland) and state conservation agencies (Florida and Missouri).
Mr. Fischer received his Master of Science in Fisheries Biology from the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and earned his Bachelors of Science in Water Resources – Limnology, from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
Mr. Fischer is a graduate of the USACE planning associates program (2010) and the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division Regional Leadership Development Program (2018), and is DOD Facilities Engineering Level III certified.