Palmer ’11 wins Carnegie fellowship

Palmer, a Wilson School concentrator, is one of nine fellows selected out of a pool of nominees from over 400 colleges. As a Junior Fellow, he will spend one year working directly with noted China and Asia experts Michael Swaine and Douglas Paal and conducting research for books, the China Leadership Monitor and other publications.

Palmer said he has been interested in China since spending two years in Taiwan as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I cannot emphasize enough how much of an impact living and serving as a missionary in Taiwan has had on my interest in China and on my Princeton career since I came back,” Palmer said. He described returning to Princeton as a 21-year-old sophomore who was more accustomed to speaking Chinese than English as “weird,” but said but that living in Taiwan gave him “a different sense of focus and perspective on how to get the most out of my experience at Princeton.”

He has pursued his interest in China at the University by participating in the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program. Interacting with leading experts and scholars such as Christensen has been an integral part of Palmer’s undergraduate experience. After his sophomore year, Palmer also interned at the State Department, working in the political section of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

“I learned more in three months than I could have ever anticipated,” he said. “My interest in China began with policy on religion and expanded into a fascination surrounding the implications of China’s rise for East Asia and the U.S.”

At the State Department, Palmer drafted a memo that was forwarded to the president, according to Director of Fellowship Advising Deirdre Moloney, who advised Palmer when he was a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.

“Oliver is an outstanding student, with an unusually calm presence, which undoubtedly served him well during his interview,” she said.

Palmer said he plans to spend a few more years gaining experience with the policy process before pursuing a doctorate in international relations or history.