I am saddened to report that Professor Emeritus Monte Palmer has passed away.
Professor Palmer received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1967 before joining the faculty at FSU later that year. He taught at FSU until 1998.
Professor Palmer had more than fifty years of personal experience studying the Middle East including work in Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Iraq. The purpose of his work with the people of the area was to understand all aspects of the life of the people and share what he learned in his classroom lectures, his books and articles, and later virtually via blogs. His ability to speak fluent Arabic endeared him to his colleagues while his expertise in Middle Eastern bureaucracy, politics, terrorism, and culture was legitimized by authoring over twenty books. His latest books include The Arab Psyche and American Frustrations, Islamic Extremism, Politics of the Middle East, Egypt and the Game of Terror, a novel, and Faith, Force, and Finance in the Middle East. He served as a Senior Fellow at the Al Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies in Cairo, Egypt, as a former Director of the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies at the American University of Beirut, and as a consultant for USAID and The World Bank.
He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Princess, and his three daughters and their families.
Brad T. Gomez
Department Chair