Dr. John M. Palms
Class of 1958
Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.
- Past President of Georgia State University 1989-1991.
- Past President of the University of South Carolina, 1991-2002. Dr. Palms was awarded President Emeritus status at the University.
- Dr. Palms graduated from The Citadel in 1958 and commissioned a 2LT in the United States Air Force. After earning a Masters Degree in physics from Emory University, he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Labs and was a professor of physics at the United States Air Force Academy. After military service Dr. Palms received a PhD in physics from the University of New Mexico and returned to Emory where he taught for over twenty years becoming the university's chief academic officer.
- Dr. Palms national service includes serving as chairman of the Institute for Defense Analyses, a member of the National Nuclear Accreditation Board and the Advisory Council for the National Academy of Nuclear Training of the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations. He also was a co-head of the team who designed the public assisted Ecological Based Environmental Radiation Monitoring Programs after the Three Mile Island accident.