Dr. John Palms, USC Distinguished President Emeritus, retired from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the end of the academic year 2006/2007 after a long and distinguished academic career.

Born in the Netherlands, Dr. Palms came to the United States at the age of 16, graduated from the Citadel in 1958, obtained his MS degree from Emory University in 1959, and served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1958 until 1962.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico.  Dr. Palms was one of the pioneers of the now famous germanium gamma ray detectors in common use in many venues from physics laboratories to hospitals.

In 1966, Dr. Palms joined the physics faculty at Emory University.  Later, he served as Department Chairman, as Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, in several Vice President positions and as Vice President of Academic Affairs.  In 1988, he stepped down and was appointed Charles Howard Chandler Professor of Physics.

Dr. Palms has received many honors.  Among them were the Thomas Jefferson Award, the highest award for Leadership and Service at Emory University; the Richard A. Rempel Faculty Award by the USC Student Government; the James F.  Zimmerman Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of New Mexico; the Radiation Protection Professional of the Year Award (2001); the First Abbay Mepkin Wisdom Award in 2004; and the Ambassador K. Kerry Dornbush Award of the Netherlands-America Foundation.  He holds Honorary Doctoral Degrees from the University of South Carolina and the Citadel.

Since 1988, Dr. Palms has served on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Defense Analysis, and as its Chairman since 2002, on the Defense Science Summer Study Task Force, the Environmental Protection Agency Panel for the Review of Computerized Radiological Risk Investigation, the Federal Advisory Commission on the Consolidation and Conversion of Defense Research and Development Laboratories, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Health and Safety Research Division Advisory Committee to the Director, the National Academy of Science Panel on Semiconductor Detectors, and the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Dr. Palms and his wife, Norma Lee, reside in their home on the Isle of Palms marked by a plaque that says “Villa Palms,” one he had made in Jaca, Spain.

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