Growing together

On a bench just outside Kennedy Union, Greg Palmer ’78 and Denise Eder Palmer ’77 sit for a photo within feet of the spot where they met during their first day at UD. 

When they first met, they were accompanying friends who wanted to go on a date. Separately, Greg and Denise agreed to be each of their friend’s plus-one for support. They don’t remember if their friends had a second date, but Greg and Denise recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary and a lifetime growing together with UD. 

Greg serves on UD’s campaign cabinet and is a member of the law school advisory council. Having previously served on the School of Business Administration advisory council, Denise is a member of the University’s board of trustees. Volunteer roles don’t come any greater than those, but they are just the latest for the couple who have continued helping fellow Flyers from that very first day. 

“When we worked, we worked a lot,” said Denise. “It wasn’t feasible to be very hands-on as volunteers, but we’d participate in the phone-a-thon.” As their careers matured, they were able and willing to give back more time — and funds — to UD. Annual giving and volunteering grew to their current roles, and they established two scholarships. Most recently, they have updated a bequest they made to endow the two scholarships, ensuring that Flyers will continue to benefit from their generosity forever. 

Establishing the scholarships was important because neither of them could have attended UD without a scholarship, they said, and they both finished their degrees in accounting in less than four years to help keep the cost down. One scholarship they created is for business, with preference for accounting majors. The other is for the School of Law, with preference given to UD business students. 

“Accounting was a great bridge to other opportunities,” said Greg, who would go on to law school in Chicago and a career specializing in tax law. In Chicago, Denise joined the Tribune Co. and completed her MBA. She then began a career that would see her rise to vice president of finance at the Chicago Tribune, president of CLTV, publisher and president of the Baltimore Sun and finally, publisher and president of the Tampa Tribune. 

At his law firm, Greg sat on the committee for professional responsibility. “I think that’s, in part, because of the type of education I had here at UD,” said Greg. “The Marianist values are universal values that anyone can embrace, and they are an important part of why we have always supported the University.” 

“The Marianist values are universal values that anyone can embrace, and they are an important part of why we have always supported the University.” 

Denise agreed: “Those years in college are when you go from being a kid to an adult. Doing it here — with the mission and values of UD — was very valuable and came in handy throughout my career. I could always reason my way through the gray areas between right and wrong.”