Palm brings more than two decades of higher education
experience to the position. He has served Florida Agricultural and Mechanical
University as an administrator, faculty member, and liaison to a broad segment
of constituents.
Currently, he is the associate provost for undergraduate education
at FAMU and a tenured professor in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical
Sciences. At VSU, he will work under another former FAMU professor. Abdullah
served on the faculty of the College of Engineering Sciences, Technology, and
Agriculture at FAMU for 15 years and was the dean of the college from 2008
through 2011.
During his tenure at FAMU, Palm has received several prestigious university awards such as the CeDAR Honors Visionary Award, Advanced Teacher of the Year Award, Grantsmanship Award, and the Rising Star Award. Additionally, he has successfully secured more than five million dollars for STEM Education support, Research Program Support and his primary research focus on Neurodegeneration. He has served as a major advisor for several Ph.D. students and has authored numerous peer reviewed articles in the field of Neuroscience.
Palm received executive leadership training with the Harvard
Institute for Higher Education Management Development Program at the Harvard
Graduate School of Education. In addition, he is a 2011-2012 American Council
of Education (ACE) Fellow.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native holds a Bachelor of Arts
(B.A.) Degree in Chemistry from Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) and a Doctor
of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Pharmacology from Pennsylvania State University
(Hershey Medical School). His postdoctoral research training was completed at
Brown University in the Department of Neurosurgery/Neuroscience with a research
focus on homeostatic regulation of the brain following traumatic neuronal
injury.
A press release from VSU stated that Palm’s “extensive
background and experience in Health Sciences will be critical as we build new
programs and further position VSU as a top land grant and research university.”
Palm’s will start his new job at VSU on August 1, 2016.