PARKER J. PALMER, founder and senior partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal, is a writer, speaker and activist. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley as well as ten honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, and an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press. He is author of nine books, including several best-selling and award-winning titles. His latest book is "Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit."

In 1998, the Leadership Project, a national survey of 10,000 educators, named Palmer one of the 30 “most influential senior leaders” in higher education and one of the ten key “agenda-setters” of the past decade. In 2010, Palmer was given the William Rainey Harper Award whose previous recipients include Margaret Mead, Elie Wiesel, Marshall McLuhan, and Paolo Freire. In 2011, Utne Reader named him one of 25 Visionaries, “People Who are Changing the World.” A member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker), Palmer lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

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