Helen Fisher died, peacefully at home, on August 17th, 2024. The cause was endometrial cancer. Despite growing weak in her final weeks in hospice care, she completed her manuscript for a book about her personality research, Thinking Four Ways: How to Connect With Anyone Using Neuroscience, and submitted it five days before her death. It will be published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf and in more than a dozen foreign editions.
The New York Times published an obituary on August 22, 2024.
Obituaries have been published in The Economist, The Times of London, and The Telegraph, and her career was featured in The Economist's podcast, The Intelligence, on August 30th.
Tributes to her life and work have been published by the Kinsey Institute and at Nautilus and YourTango.
The Kinsey Institute, where Helen served as Senior Research Fellow for many years, will be honoring her legacy by establishing the Helen Fisher Distinguished Lecture. Kinsey is accepting donations for this endowed fund, which will support a lecture at least every two years and recognize writers and researchers continuing the work pioneered by Helen in the science of love, sex, and relationships. The first lecture will take place in New York City.
Donate: Helen Fisher Distinguished Lecture.
If you have any questions about the Helen Fisher Distinguished Lecture, you can contact Derek Dixon, Senior Director of Development at the Kinsey Institute, by email (dsdixon @ iu.edu) or phone (812-855-2586).
Inquiries about the use of her writing and research can be directed to her literary executor, John Tierney (johntierneynyc@gmail.com), or her literary agent, Christy Fletcher of the United Talent Agency (christy.fletcher @ unitedtalent.com).
Helen Fisher, PhD, Biological Anthropologist, was a Senior Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute and Chief Science Advisor to the Internet dating site Match.com. She conducted extensive research and wrote six books on the evolution and future of human sex, love, marriage, gender differences in the brain and how your personality style shapes who you are and who you love. She used her knowledge of brain chemistry to discuss the neuroscience of team building, business leadership and innovation.
In 2005, Match.com invited Dr. Helen Fisher to identify the biological foundation of personality. When she discovered a lack of data in modern scientific literature, she undertook a deep dive into peer-reviewed research in genetic, biological, pharmaceutical, neuroscience, and other medical fields.
Read MoreLovestruck: What Would Dr. Fisher Do?
The WoMed Podcast February 17, 2023 It’s V-Day-Week! Your hosts are joined once again by sex scientist and one of Match.com’s Chief Scientific Advisors, Dr. Helen Fisher, to discuss personality styles and dating trends! She explains the 4 personality styles she’s identified and discusses the quiz that they all (and even Michael — and 15 million other people) took to figure out their style. Considered a TED All-Star, Dr. Fisher has over 21 million views on her talks, and today offers insight on new dating trends she’s seen from her annual Singles in America study. The 2022 study included questions about Roe v. Wade and inflation, which had notable results on people’s approach to dating. Speaking of love, Dani is on the move to Cleveland to be with Michael, and Jac may just have someone special that we get a little V-Day update on. Listen on Apple Podcasts
