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Lee J. Styslinger Jr. College of Engineering

Outstanding Alumni Volunteer

E. Christian Palmer

In 1995, the Lee J. Styslinger Jr. College of Engineering began a yearly tradition of recognizing an alum who provided excellent volunteer assistance to the College as the Outstanding Alumni Volunteer. The 2026 Outstanding Alumni Volunteer award recipient is E. Christian Palmer.

Palmer’s career in electrical engineering is defined by technical excellence, community leadership, and a passion for empowering others, proven through his dedication to advancing the mission of the Tennessee Valley Authority while maintaining strong community relations.

He earned his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from The University of Alabama, then relocated to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to begin work with the Tennessee Valley Authority as an engineer performing transmission planning analysis work.

Palmer then transitioned to the customer and sub-transmission section, where he served as the senior customer engineering planner. In this role, his responsibilities included ensuring reliable and adequate power delivery to local power companies across the eastern portion of the TVA service territory. Following this role, he became a scoping specialist, leading the development of technical projects from initial concept to pre-construction, from acquiring contract plans and organizing site visits to leading multi-disciplinary scoping workshops for project execution. Palmer is currently a member of the new nuclear and transmission projects group within TVA, working as a scoping specialist with a concentration on renewable projects.

He is a member of the College’s Capstone Engineering Society Board. Palmer currently serves as treasurer of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center in Chattanooga and as the communications and outreach chair for the East Tennessee chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy. Palmer has been recognized with many awards, including the Golden Legacy Award and the Charles W. Green Award of Merit from the Psi Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the Volunteer of the Year Award from Young Professionals of Chattanooga, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Philip J. Sutton People-to-People Award.

In his free time, Palmer enjoys traveling with friends and family, watching the Crimson Tide, and practicing photography.

Outstanding Alumni Volunteer Through the Years

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