Dr. Robert Palazzo has recently been named chair of the Biology Department. His appointment brings to many faculty, administrators, and students the hope that he will be a renewing force for the department. “Dr. Palazzo brings a fresh outlook. The department needed a fresh outlook for a long time,” said Michael Hanna, professor of biology.
Palazzo was born in Abruzzi, Italy, and came to the United States with his family at the age of five. Growing up in Dearborn, Michigan, in the shadow of large car manufacturers, he seemed destined for a job in the industry instead of the sciences. Yet after working for a few years in construction and machinery, he decided to go back to school.
He studied at Wayne State University, obtaining a dual degree in Biology and Chemistry in 1979. Palazzo then went on to receive his Ph.D. from Wayne, and did postdoctoral work at the University of Virginia. “The marine biology lab developed new systems for the process cell division, and I got an NIH grant, so that was my first position,” he said.
Before joining the faculty at RPI, Palazzo was at the University of Kansas, where as the department chair he organized and reconstructed the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology. Some of his plans for improving the Department of Biology here at Rensselaer include recruiting two high quality faculty members, and making the plans for the new Biotechnology Center clear and appreciated. He looks ahead at his job here with excitement and caution. “I view it as job that is important now. What I do during my administration will set the tenure for what biology and life science will be like in the years to come. How the world views us, the future, is based on the next five years,” said Palazzo.
Making sure that undergraduate and graduate students are organized and have a voice is another major goal for Palazzo. “The students are the most critical component of a university and have a voice if they choose to use it.” said Palazzo. A few weeks ago he started working toward his goal by holding a pizza party for the department undergraduates at which he shared his outlook and aspirations for the student body. “He has great interest in students, and he really listens to our opinions,” said Rokhsanna Sadeghi BCBP ’06. “You probably heard the word energy associated with him a lot, but that’s what you think of when you interact with him,” she added.
Other professors in the department appreciate Palazzo’s efforts. “Students do need to have an identity and be able to mingle with students with similar as well as different majors,” said Hannah. “This guy is all fired up and ready to work. In my years I have seen great people but no one with as much energy to change the department and work for the students,” said George Edick, head of the biology lab.
In addition to a number of published research papers in journals and periodicals, Palazzo continuous to contribute time in the summer to the Marine Biology Lab in Wood’s Hole, Massachusetts. Palazzo is also the co-director of the National Association of Science Writers where he helps scientists to become better journalists. Other positions that he held include chair of the Science Council and member of the board of trustees at MBL.
