[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 53 (Thursday, April 22, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4294-S4296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN TRIBUTE TO JOHN PALMS

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, John Palms, the former president 
of the University of South Carolina, will be honored this week with 
Mepkin Abbey's newly established Wisdom Award.
  All of us in the Senate would be a little wiser ourselves to read the 
following article from the April 10 Charleston Post and Courier, on Dr. 
Palms. He is an inspiration to all that the American dream is alive and 
well. I ask that the article be printed in the Record.

[[Page S4295]]

  The article follows.

         [From the Charleston Post and Courier, Apr. 10, 2004]

  John Palms--Nuclear Physicist Leads the Way in Science, Education, 
                      Religion and the World Stage

                            (By Judy Watts)

       ``Learning humanizes character and does not permit it to be 
     cruel'' is the University of South Carolina motto.
       The words also epitomize John Palms' philosophy, not only 
     as the former USC president, but as a physicist and a human 
     being.
       Although his formal training is in nuclear physics, his 
     life events have given him an educated perspective on 
     physics' ambiguous nature, both in the weapons he designed 
     and in the research, which had medical applications. As 
     president of two universities, he fulfilled his destiny as an 
     educator who believed in building not only well-educated 
     people, but also people of character.
       On April 24, Palms will be presented with Mepkin Abbey's 
     newly established Wisdom Award, given for a lifetime of 
     achievement based on the highest human aspirations. Since his 
     years as a cadet at The Citadel, Mepkin Abbey has been a 
     personal touch-stone, a place where he has been able to focus 
     and center his life.
       John Palms has come a long way from the little dutch boy 
     who fled a Hitler-terrorized Europe with his family.


                           MAKING OF THE MAN

       It was 1939 and Hitler had invaded Poland. John Palms was 4 
     years old and sandbags were being piled on the front lawn in 
     anticipation of war. Palms; father, deciding it was dangerous 
     for the family to remain, concocted a story that they needed 
     to travel to South America to buy wool for his underwear 
     factory that supplied the Dutch military.
       ``The North Sea had been mined and there were severe 
     restrictions about visas,'' says Palms.
       The family took a train to Italy and from there a boat 
     headed for South America. En route, a submarine stopped the 
     boat and someone was taken off, says Palms.
       ``I remember commotion and crying. My father has 8-mm film 
     of the submarine.''
       For seven months the family lived in Rio de Janeiro until 
     they could obtain visas to continue on to New York, where 
     they arrived in February 1940. They waited out the war there.
       When Palms was 11, the family returned to Holland to get 
     restitution for the family's damaged textile factory and 
     haberdashery.
       ``We didn't want to go back because we were already 
     Americanized.''
       Once in Holland, he and his siblings were faced with an 
     academic hardship.
       ``We spoke Dutch in our house in New York, so when we went 
     back I could speak Dutch but could not read a word of it.
       ``I was home-schooled for awhile and then tutored by the 
     Jesuits.''
       At 14, he passed the comprehensive exam to get into St. 
     Aloysius College at The Hague.
       ``I wasn't an outstanding student. I was excited about 
     being in a different country. There was lots of talk about 
     the war when we returned to Holland.''
       Palms heard firsthand stories of Buchenwald from his uncle 
     who had been arrested for helping Jews escape from the Nazis.
       ``His own neighbor told on him and he was taken to 
     Buchenwald. There was such fear that even if you knew about 
     something and didn't report it, you were at risk. But he 
     survived. Every time I see a German movie, I have to watch 
     it, and I read anything I can find on the concentration camps 
     and Buchenwald.''
       The taste of American culture so prevalent in postwar 
     Hollard fueled the family's desire to return to the United 
     States. In 1951, they came back and settled in Clearwater, 
     Fla.
       Palms graduated from Clearwater High School with no plans 
     for the future.
       ``I decided to do nothing. I was over-Americanized by all 
     the American movies where people raised themselves up by 
     their bootstraps. I never got the message that you needed an 
     education. I thought I would find some opportunity by being 
     ingenious and creative.''
       His parents had not gone to college, yet his father had 
     been a successful entrepreneur, a salesman who had bought one 
     sewing machine, then another and another, and ended up with 
     his own factory. Palms tried his luck first as a painter's 
     helper, then as a plumber and first mate on a boat.
       His nonplan didn't work out. When he and some friends heard 
     about the great-paying automobile factory jobs in Detroit, 
     they made the trip. A day after they arrived, there was a 
     strike.
       ``That was a real semester of realizations for me.''
       Back in Clearwater, he ran into a friend who made a 
     suggestion. It was a suggestion that set his life on a 
     remarkable course.
       ``My buddy said I could go to St. Petersburg Junior College 
     for $50. So, I borrowed $50 from my father.''
       Palms enrolled. He wanted to find out if he was capable of 
     college work. Although he could read English, he read slowly. 
     He pulled a C in English and did well in math and chemistry. 
     Another suggestion from this brother was that he attend a 
     military academy. Palms wrote to West Point and got a letter 
     back saying he couldn't apply because he was not an American 
     citizen. His citizenship was still two years away.
       His older brother had heard about The Citadel.
       ``If I graduated as a distinguished cadet, I would get a 
     regular commission and could become a pilot. The Citadel had 
     just appointed a new president, Gen. Mark Clark, whom my dad 
     thought was the most wonderful American. I applied to 
     The Citadel and, sight unseen, I got in. Absolutely 
     amazing; they must have been short of students that year.
       ``It was 1954. Dad drove me up to No. 2 barracks and saw 
     those bars on the windows and in his Dutch accent said, 
     ``Zyahn'--he couldn't say the J--`you don't have to go here 
     if you don't want to.' I told him it was exactly what I 
     wanted; that I needed the discipline and the structure. I 
     signed up for Air Force ROTC.''
       The plan was to get his business degree, gain his 
     commission and become an Air Force pilot. He managed C's in 
     English and history, but again excelled in math, science and 
     German. He followed his strength and switched his major to 
     physics. There were five students in the program. As planned, 
     he graduated as a distinguished ROTC cadet.
       ``But I failed the eye exam, so I couldn't be a pilot. The 
     head of the physics department and the ROTC called me in and 
     said they would give me a commission anyway and send me to 
     graduate school for one year. I chose Emory because they were 
     on the quarter system and I could finish my master's in a 
     year there.''


                                academia

       Two days after graduating from Emory, he was married to 
     Norma Cannon (``the most wonderful person I ever imagined 
     finding''), and the next few years were filled with 
     completing his master's, teaching physics at the Air Force 
     Academy, getting out of the Air Force and completing his 
     Ph.D.
       He went to Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico, 
     where he did his dissertation and designed nuclear weapons.
       ``Emory kept track of me and offered me to come back as a 
     professor. We struggled with that. I had the opportunity to 
     go to Stanford, but Southern ladies have to come back to the 
     South, so we did. We had a 23-year career at Emory.''
       Palms worked his way through the ranks from associate 
     professor to vice president for academic affairs more than 
     two decades later, when he took a sabbatical. During the 
     break, he received numerous calls from other universities 
     that wanted him to come on board as president. Georgia State 
     was his choice.
       But he had barely settled in there when he got a call from 
     a head hunter that the problem-ridden University of South 
     Carolina wanted Palms as President. The decision to move was 
     not easy and came only after a family weekend of soul-
     searching and discussion.
       They arrived in Columbia on the Ides of March 1991. The 
     first couple of years in Columbia were rough.
       ``All the qualities that are important at a university had 
     been violated. And that affects hiring and tenure. The 
     president is expected to be the role model. The faculty is, 
     also. People don't understand the life of a university 
     president. There is a moral authority,'' says Palms.
       He wanted to return the university to its core: learning 
     and the search for truth.
       Within three years, USC's reputation was restored and the 
     school was in a position to launch a major campaign. He and 
     Norma traveled all over the country, cultivating and 
     nurturing people who might contribute. They also developed a 
     professional staff for financial development. Their goal was 
     to raise $200 million. When he stepped down after 11 years, 
     the couple had raised more than $500 million for the school.
       During his tenure at USC, the SAT scores of incoming 
     freshmen rose 150 points, hundreds of thousands in research 
     grants were gained, and standards for hiring and tenure were 
     raised in all 52 departments.


                                PHYSICS

       Physics was the platform on which Palms built his career.
       ``All my life I have struggled with the place of modern 
     physics in society and the morality of nuclear deterrence. 
     Should we be using nuclear weapons to deter war?''
       Palms has been chairman of IDA--the Institute for Defense 
     Analysis--for five years and a member for 14 years.
       ``IDA was set up right after WWII to bring university 
     talents into issues of national security,'' says Palms. ``It 
     started with the presidents of Harvard and MIT and a board of 
     military people and former congressmen.''
       The group conducts independent analysis for the Secretary 
     of Defense and for Congress.
       ``It (defense) can be so political, but this is really 
     independent analysis. We do everything from evaluating and 
     testing weapons systems to designing and forecasting.''
       The issue of fighter planes and mobile-force 
     transformations from a Cold War world to present-day needs is 
     now being studied.
       ``More coordination and use of equipment among the services 
     is becoming an integral part of what we are doing now and in 
     the future,'' says Palms. ``We are heavily involved in 
     homeland security right now, and we are also heavily involved 
     in Iraq--the whole operation. We are mainly sitting there 
     looking at what needs to be done and standing ready to do 
     these studies.''
       IDA also works on advanced computer systems and mathematics 
     for cryptology.
       ``You have the very best minds in the world to do this. 
     Every two years, we take 20 of the very best Ph.D.s in 
     universities and orient them to this work.''

[[Page S4296]]

       After two years of site visits and orientation, new members 
     are assigned to a committee.
       Palms became involved in IDA, in part, because he had 
     developed systems at Los Alamos, and IDA needed somebody who 
     knew about weapons. He also brought a firsthand perspective 
     to what happened in Europe during World War II. He says he is 
     always watchful for the signs of a similar situation 
     emerging.
       ``When I was at Los Alamos (1963-66), I worked on weapons 
     design and fundamental physics research, which could have 
     been used for weapons development, or input to medicine, the 
     environment, ecology or therapeutic medicine. So, even though 
     funded by the Department of Defense, the results are there 
     for the world to use the way it wants to. Just because the 
     research is used in nuclear weapons, you shouldn't stop doing 
     it because it is also used in all these other areas.
       ``There is the issue of a two-edged sword. As a scientist, 
     you have the obligation to make the public aware and 
     anticipate how the information should be used, whether it is 
     proper to use it one way or another.''
       Such discussions of religion and science were a familiar 
     topic that he and the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin often 
     considered.
       ``He wrote a commission report on the morality of nuclear 
     deterrence (Time, Nov. 29, 1982, issue; titled ``God and the 
     Bomb''). You can justify only so much deterrence. If there 
     had been no Russia and we had been the only nuclear power, we 
     would have to be very careful. We are living in that kind of 
     age now. You can't overuse your power. It must always be used 
     in response to the threat. Where's the other threat?''
       Palms first met Cardinal Bernardin while a cadet at The 
     Citadel. His wife knew Bernardin as her teacher at Bishop 
     England High School.
       ``He baptized our children. It's a funny world.''
       Palms is currently involved with neutrino research through 
     USC and a consortium of 13 universities.
       ``Neutrino is one of the subatomic particles. People have 
     been trying to find if it has mass or not. It might explain 
     the missing dark matter in the universe. My role is that I 
     built one of the first detectors. Those detectors have 
     evolved. I'm trying to make a contribution and also helping 
     to find funding for this. It will cost about $40 million to 
     $50 million.''
       He also continues to teach physics classes at USC, 
     including a lab course in which the class will conduct four 
     Nobel prize-winning experiments.
       Although he didn't continue in the Air Force, he is content 
     that he is doing his part through IDA.
       ``This is almost better. This is my contribution to the 
     country and to national security, and I'm happy to be able to 
     serve my country.''


                             the home front

       Norma Palms describes her husband of 45 years as a great 
     husband and father with a wonderful sense of humor.
       ``Everyone wants him full time, yet he never wants to take 
     the credit for anything,'' she says.
       Today, the couple divide their time between Columbia and 
     their home in Wild Dunes. His retirement from USC has allowed 
     more time for their grown children, Lee, John and Danielle, 
     and nine grandchildren. Norma says they have looked forward 
     to this time as a couple.
       ``The time to be with our children and grandchildren has 
     been very special,'' she says. ``We can take off and go see 
     the grandchildren on their birthdays and for holidays. We 
     couldn't do that before. We especially look forward to 
     getting everyone together for family reunions here at the 
     house.''
       The couple are very involved at their church, St. Thomas 
     More, and served as honorary chairs for the church's recent 
     50th-anniversary celebration.
       Mepkin Abbey also is part of their spiritual life. In fact, 
     Palms sees a link between the abbey and finding Norma.
       ``When I was 21, I was ready to make a serious commitment 
     to someone and went to Mepkin Abbey and prayed about that. I 
     was trying to find out if I was doing the right thing with my 
     life. Two weeks later I met Norma.''
       Today, the couple go to the abbey together, then they take 
     different paths and read alone in the gardens.
       ``We contemplate our lives and come back together and get 
     rededicated again. We think a lot of the brothers. Their 
     spirituality has been important in our lives,'' says Norma.
       Palms says he is honored to receive the Wisdom Award from 
     Mepkin Abbey.
       ``I have a lot more years to live, and there are many 
     people who have done a lot more for the state for a lot 
     longer than I have. This is a wonderful honor from them.''
       Chairman of the award committee, Dr. Theodore Stern, says 
     Palms was chosen because of his abilities as a team leader.
       ``He's very dedicated and has made a tremendous 
     contribution to the academics of South Carolina. He is an 
     outstanding individual and leader and has worked on so many 
     education and government commissions,'' says Stern, ``and his 
     wife, Norma, also has been a leader.''
       Norma headed up the abbey's capital campaign.
       ``My whole heart was in that. I still hold them as No. 1 on 
     my priority list,'' she says.
       Palms credits Norma's outgoing personality with softening 
     his technocratic tendencies.
       ``I'm made up of everyone I've ever met and known, but 
     Norma is the biggest influence and the most important person 
     in my life,'' says Palms.

                          ____________________