People: Stephanie Palmer

MSU'S 16TH RHODES SCHOLAR

Most winners of the prestigious Rhodes Scholar award over the years come from a liberal arts, rather than science, background. Thus the selection of Stephanie Palmer--a senior chemical physics major in MSU's Lyman Briggs School--was special.

A native of Walled Lake, Palmer, MSU's 16th Rhodes Scholar, gives tremendous credit to her alma mater. 'At MSU, everyone wants to help you do what you can,' says Palmer. 'No one holds you back. There's a lot of opportunities to do a million and one things.'

MSU boasts a remarkable record in the prestigious academic award, which comes with two years of study at England's Oxford University. Only 32 out of 1,041 American applicants representing 315 colleges were selected. In the past 25 years, MSU leads all public universities in the nation with 13 Rhodes Scholars. In the 1990s, MSU has had three, including Rujuta Bhatt (see Spring 1993, p. 10) in 1993 and Dayne Walling (see Spring 1996, p. 10) last year. 'This is another proud moment for the university,' says President Peter McPherson. 'To have three Rhodes Scholars in the 1990s alone confirms that Michigan State is in the business of helping students achieve everything they are capable of.'

A senior Honors College member with a 3.94 GPA, Palmer was valedictorian at Walled Lake High and hails from a science oriented family. Her father Robert Palmer is a physicist for Williams International and her grandmother studied math and physics at the University of Chicago. Her mother Mary Ann is a former high school English teacher.

Stephanie became interested in science as a kid after spending time with her father. 'He's very analytical, and he'd always explain what was going on. When I was eight and we flew stunt-kites, he explained everything about lift and drag. We bike a lot together, and once, when I was in Junior High, I remember going to the top of a hill and coasting down. He kept yelling 'mv_, mv_!' to let me know he was coasting faster because he weighed more.'

Stephanie chose to attend MSU's Lyman Briggs because 'of the science focus and the smaller classes.' She says Ed Ingraham made a good pitch for MSU, plus offered a research opportunity. 'I felt at MSU the atmosphere would be supportive,' she explains. 'I felt I could go as far as I wanted without being held back, and that proved correct.' So Stephanie came to MSU with a professorial assistantship with Steven Spees of Lyman Briggs. She has also worked with P.M. Duxbury, professor of physics, and has assisted professor Ralph Taggart in developing a special topics class on critical incidents analysis. He has also completed a National Science Foundation research experience for undergraduates at the Chemical Physics Institute of the University of Oregon and participated in a program of the ACS Nuclear Chemistry Summer School at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The past two years, Stephanie has been a teaching assistant for chemistry courses in Lyman Briggs. 'Her students have given her high praise,' notes Ron Lewis, director of MSU's Honors College. 'They cite her thorough and clear explanations, her approachability and helpfulness, and her enthusiastic and caring attitude.' A truly well-rounded person, Stephanie also paints and draws--her work having been exhibited at MSU's Kresge Art Museum as part of a student show--and is an avid long-distance biker and runner.

'I play with acrylics,' says Stephanie, a modern day Renaissance Person. 'Drawing is probably one of my biggest hobbies. I'm not a great representational artist, but on the other hand, I agree with Picasso in that art should always be based on something.' Her goal for the future is two-fold: 'Practically, my goal is to teach and do research at a university. Idealistically, I'd like to do something new that will find, I hope, a new avenue, a new way of doing things.'