During that time, he received a prize from the YIVO (Institute for Yiddish Research) for a monograph on bilingualism.

[10] In 1953, he completed his Ph.D. in social psychology at Columbia University[1] with a dissertation entitled Negative Stereotypes Concerning Americans among American-born Children Receiving Various Types of Minority-group Education.

[1] He subsequently accepted a post as professor of psychology and sociology at Yeshiva University in New York, where he would also serve as dean of the Ferkauf Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities as well as academic vice president.

Fishman is the founder and editor of the Contributions to the Sociology of Language book series by Mouton de Gruyter.

According to Ghil'ad Zuckermann, "The founder and general editor of the leading refereed publication International Journal of the Sociology of Language, Fishman created an intellectual platform that has greatly facilitated the introduction and dissemination of novel models and revolutionary theories that have led to numerous academic debates, syntheses and cross-fertilizations.

"[12]: 149–152 Zuckermann has argued that "Fishman’s research embodies the integration of Jewish scholarship with general linguistics.

humaneness) but also of education and 'on the other hand' dialectics, it is not surprising to find the self-propelled institute Fishman trailblazing simultaneously both in Yiddish scholarship in particular and in the sociology of language in general.

"[12]: 149–152 In 1991, Fishman was honored by two Festschriften, publications to celebrate his 65th birthday, each filled with articles by colleagues that followed his interests.

"[16] On September 10, 2006, Fishman was honored by a one-day symposium at the University of Pennsylvania, commemorating his 80th birthday.