Parker Palmer

Parker J. Palmer (born 1939 in Chicago, Illinois) is an author, educator, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. Palmer received the Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970. A member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker), he lives with his wife, Sharon Palmer, in Madison, Wisconsin.

Palmer served for fifteen years as Senior Associate of the now defunct American Association of Higher Education, and now serves as Senior Advisor to the Fetzer Institute. [cite web |last = Palmer | first = Parker J |url= http://www.fetzer.org/PDF/SeasonsBook.pdf |title= Seasons: A Center for Renewal|accessdate=2008-03-12 |format= PDF|publisher=Fetzer Institute |quote = Dr. Palmer is Senior Advisor to the Fetzer Institute and helps to directits Teacher Formation Program.] He founded the Center for Courage & Renewal, [cite web |url= http://www.couragerenewal.org/about/ccr-staff |title= About the Center: Staff |accessdate=2008-03-12 |publisher=Center for Courage and Renewal] which oversees the “Courage to Teach” program for K-12 educators across the country and parallel programs for people in other professions, including medicine, law, ministry and philanthropy.

He has published a dozen poems, more than one hundred essays and seven books, including several best-selling and award-winning titles. Palmer’s work has been recognized with ten honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press, and major grants from the Danforth Foundation, the Lilly Endowment, and the Fetzer Institute.

*In 1993, Palmer won the national award of the Council of Independent Colleges for Outstanding Contributions to Higher Education. [cite web
url= http://www.cic.edu/publications/independent/archives/news9904.pdf
last= Orr
first= Douglas M.
title= The Courage to Teach: Reflections on Parker Palmer’s Work
work= The Independent
accessdate= 2008-03-12
publisher= Council of Independent Colleges
year = 1999
quote= In 1993, [Palmer] was the recipient of the CIC Outstanding Service Award and was a speaker at the annual Presidents Institute.]

*In 1998, The Leadership Project, a national survey of 10,000 administrators and faculty, named Palmer as one of the thirty “most influential senior leaders” in higher education and one of the ten key “agenda-setters” of the past decade: “He has inspired a generation of teachers and reformers with evocative visions of community, knowing, and spiritual wholeness.”

*In 2001, the Carleton College Alumni Association gave Palmer a Distinguished Achievement Award. [cite web
url= http://apps.carleton.edu/alumni/council/awards/2001awards/
title= 2001 Award Recipients
accessdate= 2008-03-12
publisher= Carleton College]

*In 2002, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education created the “Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award”, given annually to the directors of ten medical residency programs that exemplify patient-centered professionalism in medical education. [cite web |url= http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/palmerAward/pa_leachMemo.asp |title= Parker J. Palmer Teacher Award|accessdate=2008-03-12 |publisher=Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education ]

*In 2003, the American College Personnel Association named Palmer a “Diamond Honoree” for outstanding contributions to the field of student affairs. [cite web
url= http://www.myacpa.org/res/documents/DiamondHonoreebyALPHAyear.pdf
title= Diamond Honorees: Classes of 1999 to 2005
accessdate=2008-03-12
format= pdf
publisher=American College Personnel Association]

Published Works

*cite book
last = Palmer
first = Parker J.
title = A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life
publisher = Jossey-Bass
location = San Francisco
date = 2004-09-22
isbn= 978-0787971007
*cite book
last = Palmer
first = Parker J.
title = Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation
publisher = Jossey-Bass
location = San Francisco
date = 2000-09-10
isbn= 978-0787947354
*cite book
last = Palmer
first = Parker J.
title = The Active Life: A Spirituality of Work, Creativity and Caring
publisher = Jossey-Bass
location = San Francisco
date = 1999-07-21
origyear = 1990
isbn= 978-0787949341
*cite book
last = Palmer
first = Parker J.
title = The Company of Strangers: Christians and the Renewal of America's Public Life
publisher = Crossroad
location = New York
date = 1983-08-25
isbn= 978-0824506018
*cite book
last = Palmer
first = Parker J.
title = The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life
publisher = Jossey-Bass
location = San Francisco
date = 2007-08-17
origdate = 1997-11-21
isbn= 978-0787996864
*cite book
last = Palmer
first = Parker J.
title = The Promise of Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Christian Life
publisher = Jossey-Bass
location = San Francisco
origyear = 1980
date = 2008-04-18
isbn= 978-0787996963
*cite book
last = Palmer
first = Parker J.
title = To Know As We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey
publisher = HarperOne
location = San Francisco
origyear = 1980
date = 1993-05-28
isbn= 978-0060664510

econdary Sources

*cite book
last = Intrator
first = Sam M. (ed.)
title = Living the Questions: Essays Inspired by the Work and Life of Parker J. Palmer
publisher = Jossey-Bass
location = San Francisco
date = 2005-04-06
isbn= 978-0787965549

References