John Palmer will tell you that when he took the job, he’d planned to stay as dean of the Maxwell School for five to seven years—a fairly standard term for a dean, and a commitment which, in prospect, seemed about right. Later this summer he vacates the post, completing year 15.

Obviously, something either went very wrong or very right.

“I’ve stayed in the job as long as I have because it’s a wonderful job to have,” he reflects. “There’s just nothing else that I can imagine having done that I would have enjoyed more.”

Of course, people don’t get to stay in jobs just because they like them. As much as Maxwell suited John Palmer, John Palmer suited Maxwell. During his tenure—the second longest deanship in School history—Maxwell gained a new building that more than tripled its space, established an array of interdisciplinary institutes, enrolled more graduate students while bolstering resources to support them (e.g., a bigger faculty), won a contract to host the National Security Studies Program, augmented an already enviable reputation, developed stronger alumni connections (which were already legendarily strong), dramatically increased its endowment, completed a $50-million campaign, and generally enjoyed the sort of rising tide that lifts all boats.

“I converse with people all over the country, and they all see Maxwell as the premier institution of its kind,” says Walter Montgomery ’67, a former chair of the Maxwell School Advisory Board.

Palmer’s deanship officially ends June 30. He plans to take a one-year sabbatical, then return to the Maxwell faculty. When he does, it will be as a University Professor—a Syracuse University honor given to only six others previously, and never to a departing dean.

Palmer’s appointment to this, SU’s highest faculty rank, was announced during his farewell ceremony on April 25 by Deborah Freund, SU vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost. As a University Professor, she says, Palmer will be called upon for special projects. "I trust him very much to give me different perspectives on different issues," Freund says. "He's just a really smart, inventive man."

If the University Professorship celebrates the man as a scholar, the second honor announced during the waning days of his deanship both marks and continues his legacy as a leader.

The John L. Palmer Fund for Student Excellence will provide scholarships to attract the most sought-after graduate students in the social sciences (who will be known as Palmer Scholars). John P. White ’64/’69, a former chair of the School’s Advisory Board, spearheaded the idea of honoring Palmer in a manner benefitting the School. Members of the Board were the first to support the fund. “I hoped they would be generous and, by George, they were,” White says. The Board has given $1.15 million, with the expectation that other alumni and friends of Maxwell will give to the fund.

Creating a fund to help his successor maintain momentum seems an apt way to honor Palmer, whose dogged practicality (applied to profound ends) is a trait often cited as his secret to success. He himself requested the fund be structured to buffer the transition.

And that’s typical. SU Chancellor Kenneth Shaw describes Palmer’s leadership as “quiet, steady, and inspiring.” It’s a style, Shaw adds, “that has made an already outstanding school an even better place.”

—Dana Cooke
 

More Info: An article about John Palmer’s leadership that first appeared in the 2000-01 edition of the Maxwell School Dean’s Report is now available online at www.maxwell.syr.edu/deans/palmer_dr.asp.

This article appeared in the Spring 2003 print edition of Maxwell Perspective; © 2003 Maxwell School of Syracuse University. To request a copy, e-mail dlcooke@maxwell.syr.edu.