June 2007

Palmer Steps Up to the Plate for Virginia Athletics

In the late ’80s, Lisa Palmer was the recipient of one of only four student-athlete scholarships for women’s softball available at that time. Palmer loved being a student-athlete at Virginia. She still loves the University. “Charlottesville is a great place to go to school,” Palmer says.

Like most student-athletes can attest to, Palmer says that the principles she learned from being competitive on the field at Virginia apply to her daily life even now, some 20 years later. “The teamwork that it took to be one of nine starting members of the team” she says, has helped Palmer turn her success on the softball field into success in the boardroom. Now, the Senior Vice President of Capital Markets for Regency Centers, Palmer has been with her current company 11 years.

“Making sure that everyone is included, that credit is given where it is due,” Palmer draws the parallel. “As much of a cliché as it sounds,” she adds, “there is no ‘I’ in team. It takes all of the members of the team to be successful.” Palmer also points out that in the workforce, rarely do you find someone with the same work ethic as a Virginia student-athlete. “You learn time management and discipline to do well in all aspects of life.”

Palmer holds just about every imaginable record for a Virginia softball player/pitcher, including career record wins (74), innings pitched (861.2), complete games (102), and games started (112). She was the first Virginia softball player to earn All-Region honors, when she was selected to the second team in 1987. She also earned second-team All Region selection in 1988. What’s more, Palmer remains one of only two Virginia softball players to have her jersey (#22) retired.

She’s tied for third saves (3), third career strikeouts (628), second Earned Run Average (.861.2/0.94), and second shutouts (33). She holds the first and second place season assists record with 221 in 1989 and 204 in 1986, respectively. In 1989, she was named U.Va.’s Most Outstanding Female Athlete. Then, in 2002, she was selected to the ACC 50th Anniversary Team.

Palmer graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1989 with a degree in Economics. She earned her MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994. Her primary role in her current position is to support the Chief Financial Officer in cost effectively financing the company’s growth needs and enhancing the capital structure of the company. She acts as the primary contact between Regency Centers and the investment community. She also manages strategic partnerships.

As a student-athlete, Palmer remembers being impressed upon by messages from then-director of the Virginia Student Aid Foundation, Ted Davenport, that those student-athletes on scholarship were given the opportunity to be on scholarship because of the donations from alumni. “Without those donations, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to have our tuition paid for and to gain the all-around experience of attending the University,” says Palmer.

The message hit home. Palmer has been giving back to the University every year since her graduation. “I know how fortunate I was to get a great education from a great institution. I give as much as I can each year. I increase my gift every year, the best I can. Alumni donations are critical components of the success of the athletics programs.”

Palmer is also giving of her time and talents to the University, serving her second term as a member of the Virginia Athletics Foundation Board of Trustees. In that role, she sees firsthand how significant the importance of alumni giving can be. “We all want to turn the pages of the newspaper and see Virginia teams doing well. It’s a sense of pride. That’s our school – especially those of us who participated in athletics. ”

Palmer returns to Grounds at least four times a year to attend VAF board meetings and, while she’s in town she tries to attend at least one athletics event. This past year, she also attended the all-sports reunion sponsored by VAF. “It gave a chance for former student-athletes to reconnect and for us to meet the current-student athletes.”

–written by Sara Hunt

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