College, Community, Mourn Palier

A celebratory memorial will be held at 4pm on Tuesday, October17, 2017 in the Performance Hall of the Henderson Fine Arts Center at San Juan College. 4601 College Blvd. Farmington, NM 87402.

San Juan College announced the death of retired political science professor Dr. Judy Palier, 63,  on Wednesday.  Palier had recently retired from San Juan College in the Spring of 2016, but was still active at the college and in the community.  She was a founding board member of Identity, Inc., Farmington's first LGBTQ community center and worked with the local chapter of the NAACP.  She provided leadership for many important projects for San Juan College such as San Juan College Safe Zone/Ally, SJC Out and the college's work with La Universidad Autonoma Del Carmen in Mexico.  

A celebratory memorial will be held at 4pm on Tuesday, October17, 2017 in the Performance Hall of the Henderson Fine Arts Center at San Juan College. 4601 College Blvd. Farmington, NM 87402.

Palier grew up in Chicago, and when she was eleven, her family moved to the St. Louis area.  She spent 15 years in the Denver area before moving south to Albuquerque to attend graduate school. 

• 1992 B.A., Political Science, University of Colorado - Denver

• 1995 M.A., Political Science, University of New Mexico

• 2000 Ph.D., Political Science, University of New Mexico

• Specializations: Political Theory, Comparative Politics (Latin America)

She joined San Juan College in 1999 and had recently retired in 2016.  

Palier enjoyed traveling, visiting Mexico many times and other countries in Latin America including Guatemala and Nicaragua. She also travelled to England, Spain, Morocco and Cuba.

Listen to some programs from the KSJE archives featuring Dr. Palier by clicking the link below.