The Palm Center is a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

founded in 1998 at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

, that produces scholarship designed to improve the quality of public dialogue about critical and controversial

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public ...

issues. It commissions and disseminates research in the areas of gender, sexuality, and the military that has been published in leading social scientific journals and cited in the press. The Palm Center is a resource for university-affiliated as well as independent scholars, students, journalists, opinion leaders, and members of the public. At its founding in 1998, it was known as the Center for the Study of

Sexual Minorities A sexual minority is a group whose sexual identity, sexual orientation, orientation or practices differ from the majority of the surrounding society. Primarily used to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or non-heterosexual individuals, it can al ...

in the Military. It was renamed in 2006 in recognition of a one million dollar endowment gift from the Michael D. Palm Foundation. The Palm Center's research has been cited on the floor of Congress and covered by newspapers and radio and television stations throughout the world. Palm scholars have delivered briefings and lectures at the

British Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MOD states that its principal objectives are to d ...

, the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

at West Point, the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...

, the Army War College and the

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

. The director of the Palm Center is

Aaron Belkin Aaron Belkin (born March 12, 1966) is a political scientist, researcher and professor. He currently teaches political science at San Francisco State University and is the director of the Palm Center, a think tank that commissions and disseminates ...

.''New York Times''
Scott James, "Celebration of Gay Pride Masks Community in Transition," June 25, 2011
accessed February 1, 2012

Notes

External links

Elaine Donnelly and Aaron Belkin Debate DADT at Maxwell Air Force Base, summer 2010

official website
{{authority control Research institutes established in 1998 Social science institutes Don't ask, don't tell University of California, Santa Barbara