Biography:

      Edward L. Palmer is Wayne M. and Carolyn A. Watson Professor of Psychology at Davidson. A native of Hagerstown, Maryland, he received his B.A. degree from Gettysburg College (PA) in 1960, followed by a B.D. degree from Lutheran Theological Seminary (Gettysburg, PA) in 1964, and M.S. (1967) and Ph.D.(1970) degrees in Social Psychology from Ohio University. Dr. Palmer teaches General Psychology, Personality, Social Psychology, and a seminar on Children and Television.
      His professional experience includes an Assistant Professorship at Western Maryland College (Westminster, MD,1968-1970), followed by Assistant, Associate, Professor, and Watson Professor appointments at Davidson. He chaired the Department of Psychology from 1985 to1999. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University's Center for Research in Children's Television (1977), UCLA (1984), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1991). He received The Thomas Jefferson Award in 1993. Established by The Robert Earll McConnell Foundation, it recognizes a member of the Davidson academic community who has "promoted theideals and purposes [of Jefferson]…and…through his personal influence and the performance ofhis professional duties, has exhibited the highest example of personal and scholarly integrity."
      He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.