About Professor Barbara Palmer

Barbara Palmer is Associate Professor at Baldwin Wallace University and is an expert on congressional elections and the success of women candidates.  Her second book, co-authored with Dennis Simon of Southern Methodist University, published in June of 2012, is entitled Women and Congressional Elections:  A Century of Change. The book explores how the “rules of the game,” such as incumbency, demographics, and redistricting, shape the integration of women into Congress. 

Professor Palmer teaches courses on American politics, civil rights and liberties, elections, and women and politics.  At Baldwin Wallace University, she serves as the Legal Studies Coordinator and Pre-Law Advisor.  Prior to her arrival at Baldwin Wallace, she taught at American University in Washington, DC for nine years.  In 2005, she received the American University Alice Paul Award for her commitment to women’s issues and mentoring young women. 

She has given interviews and invited talks to a wide variety of groups across the country and internationally on the history of the integration of women into Congress, the challenges faced by female candidates, and the importance of getting young women interested and involved in politics.  Her work has appeared in American Political Science Review, Politics and Gender, and a wide variety of law reviews.  She has been interviewed by the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Minnesota Public Radio, the Voice of America, Agence France-Presse, Nara News (Japan) and Die Ziet (Germany).

Professor Palmer is a founding member of Women Under Forty Political Action Committee and served as the Political Director and Treasurer. She also serves on the Board of Running Start, a non-partisan organization that encourages young women to get involved in politics.  She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and is a Minnesota native. 

She can be reached at bpalmer@bw.edu.