Palmer studied
sociology as an undergraduate at
Oklahoma State University, earned a bachelor's degree there in 1976, and stayed on for a master's degree in 1978. After being inspired by the statistics classes she took in her graduate program, she earned a second master's degree at Oklahoma State in statistics in 1980. She completed her Ph.D. in
biometry in 1988, at the
University of Texas School of Public Health. She worked at the
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for many years, and in 2013 became director of programs for the
American Statistical Association. ==Recognition==