Risa Palm is an urban geographer and former senior vice president and provost at Georgia State University. Her research interests are in urban geography and she has done extensive work on the topics of natural hazards responsiveness, urban housing, and urban impacts of global climate change. She has previously held tenured positions as a professor in geography departments at the University of Colorado, the University of Oregon, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Louisiana State University, and the State University of New York at Buffalo. Palm has published numerous books, monographs, and journal articles, and received research honors from the Association of American Geographers. She was president of the Association of American Geographers and has also served on the board of the American Geographical Society. She has served on several panels and committees for the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences.