Donald Palm Named American Council on Education Fellow

Donald Palm, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs at Florida A&M University (FAMU), has been named an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow. Molly Corbett Broad, president of the ACE, announced that Palm is an ACE Fellow for the academic year 2011-2012.

“I am truly honored to be nominated and selected as a 2011-2012 American Council on Education Fellow,” said Palm. “The ACE Fellows Program provides a wonderful opportunity for my personal growth as a leader and to network with national figures in higher education. This transformational experience will ultimately benefit Florida A&M University.”

The ACE Fellows Program, established in 1965, is designed to strengthen institutional capacity and build leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing promising senior faculty and administrators for responsible positions in college and university administration. Fifty Fellows, nominated by the presidents or chancellors of their institutions, were selected this year in a national competition.

“We are extremely proud of Dr. Palm’s accomplishments and I anticipate that his role as an ACE Fellow will be of benefit to him as well as to Florida A&M University,” said FAMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Cynthia Hughes Harris.

Sharon A. McDade, Ed.D., director of the ACE Fellows Program, noted that most previous Fellows have advanced into major positions in academic administration. Of the more than 1,700 participants in the first 46 years of the program, more than 300 have become chief executive officers and more than 1,100 have become provosts, vice presidents or deans.

“We are excited to welcome the new class of Fellows,” said McDade. “The program offers individualized, accelerated learning that advances leadership readiness while building institutional capacity. We are eager to embark on this transformational leadership journey with the members of the class of 2011-12.”

Palm earned his doctorate in pharmacology from Pennsylvania State University (Hershey Medical School) and his B.A. degree in chemistry from Lincoln University of Pennsylvania. He completed his training as a post-doctoral research fellow at Brown University Medical School/Rhode Island Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery/Neuroscience. A professor of basic pharmaceutical sciences in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences with a research focus in the area of neurodegeneration, Palm has garnered several million dollars in funding and has received many research and teaching awards. In his current position, he provides academic administrative oversight to the schools, colleges, institutes and ancillary service departments that report to the office of Academic Affairs. He is also heavily involved with new program development in which he is currently spearheading, along with several national experts, FAMU’s quest to develop a College of Dental Medicine.

Each ACE Fellow will focus on an issue of concern to the nominating institution while spending all or part of the next academic year working with a college or university president and other senior officers at a host institution. The ACE Fellows Program combines retreats, interactive learning opportunities, campus visits, and placement at another higher education institution to condense years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single semester or year. The Fellows are included in the highest level of decision making while participating in administrative activities and learning about an issue of benefit to Florida A&M University.

Fellows attend three week-long retreats on higher education issues organized by ACE, read extensively in the field, and engage in other activities to advance their knowledge about the challenges and opportunities confronting higher education today.

About the American Council on Education
Founded in 1918, ACE (www.acenet.edu) is the major coordinating body for all of the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It provides leadership on key higher education issues and influences public policy through advocacy.