Joan Fischer Targ (1938 — June 2, 1998) was a pioneer in computer education. She was the older sister of chess champion Bobby Fischer.
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Targ was born in Moscow to Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, a German biophysicist, and his wife Regina Wender, who was a Swiss born naturalized American citizen of Polish Jewish ancestry. Regina Fisher left Moscow because of the persecution of Jews in the 1930s, bringing her child with her to the United States. She spoke seven languages fluently and was a teacher, registered nurse and eventually physician[1][2] In 1948, the family moved to Brooklyn, New York, where Regina worked as an elementary school teacher and nurse. In 1949, young Joan bought a chess set in the candy store, and her younger brother Bobby Fischer, age 6, became so obsessed with it that their mother took him to a psychiatrist.[3]
Joan Targ lived in Palo Alto, California, receiving a Masters degree in education from the College of Notre Dame in Belmont.
She founded a number of innovative programs to study the teaching of computer literacy, including programs in the Palo Alto Unified School District, as well as the Institute of Microcomputing in Education at Stanford University. Her educational techniques included the creation of systems whereby a student, trained by peers in a basic course in computer programming, would then tutor the next students.
Targ was part of a very accomplished family: husband Russell, daughter Elisabeth, son Alex (a prominent Palo Alto anesthesiologist), half-brother Bobby Fischer.
Joan Targ died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 60.