College of Law

Professor Beth A. Eisler, 1946-2012

January 6, 2013

EislerBeth A. Eisler, Toledo Law professor of law and former interim law school dean, died Monday, Dec. 31 in Arbor Hospice in Ann Arbor. She was 66.

She spent 26 years teaching at Toledo Law, mostly in the fields of contracts and evidence. In the course of her career she also taught sales, secured transactions, legislative drafting, and trusts and estates.

Professor Eisler was past chairman of the appointments committee, associate dean for academic affairs from 1993 to 1995 and 1999 to 2005, and interim dean in 2005 and 2006.

“This would be a very different – and not nearly as good – law school had Beth Eisler not been a part of it,” said Daniel J. Steinbock, Dean of the College of Law.  “As an administrator and faculty member she was instrumental in shaping our program and the composition of our faculty.  Beth Eisler was an outstanding and caring teacher, and thousands of students had a better education and experience for having known her.  She was a role model for female students hoping to balance a professional career and family life.”

Devoted to and greatly admired by her students, Professor Eisler received the Outstanding Professor Award from the College of Law graduating class on three separate occasions.  She received The University of Toledo’s Student Impact Award in 2011 and 2012. 

After learning of her death, a former student, David Fine of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, wrote in an email, “Professor Eisler was an extraordinary teacher and a great person.  She not only taught us the law, she explained to us how it worked and why, and she did so with good humor and wonderful accessibility. Professor Eisler never demanded respect -- she earned it, and so many of us will remember her with gratitude and appreciation.”

Professor Eisler was born in New York City on October 24, 1946.  She received a bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University and a law degree, with honors, from The George Washington University Law School.

Before joining Toledo Law in 1987, she taught at Wayne State University Law School and was an attorney in the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she was involved in drafting and commenting on the Federal Rules of Evidence.

Professor Eisler was active in a number of professional and civic organizations, including the Michigan Supreme Court State Board of Law Examiners.

She is survived by her husband, Ira Fisher; her children, Maia Fisher (Gene Keselman) and Alex Fisher (Tiffany); her grandchildren, Mirabelle and Neve Keselman, and Xavier and Oliver Fisher; her mother, Naomi Sokol; her brother, Arlan Eisler; her sister-in-law, Jane Eisler; and her sister, Andrea Eisler.

Her family has suggested that any donations in Professor Eisler’s memory be made to the Beth Eisler Student Assistance Fund at The University of Toledo College of Law or to Arbor Hospice in Ann Arbor.

There will be a memorial service for Professor Eisler on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013 at 10 a.m. in the McQuade Law Auditorium at the Law Center. 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: 6/27/22