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In June 2000, Michelle earned her master's degree in bioengineering at UCSD. After working for a year in a tissue engineering lab and an exercise physiology lab, Michelle applied for a leave of absence from school to live and work in Italy. Now, she has reapplied to UCSD and plans to resume her Ph.D. studies under the direction of Dr. Richard Lieber in the departments of bioengineering and orthopedics. Michelle's research aims to understand the mechanics of muscle function, looking at the role of the cytoskeletal protein, desmin, as a mediator of force transmission during muscle contractions and its response to injury. Michelle has a Whitaker Foundation Biomedical Engineering research grant, which funds her tuition and research expenses.
Michelle Palmisano, graduate student in Bioengineering, was awarded a 2000 National Leadership Grant by the Order of the Sons of Italy in Washington D.C on May 25, 2000. Ms. Palmisano is one of only twelve recipients of this post- graduate scholarship.
Vanderbilt Register.... March 24-30, 1997 Vanderbilt 51, Kansas 44 - Michelle Palmisano scored 16 of her 17 points in the second halfand Vanderbilt held Kansas to 28 percent shooting in Lawrence, Kan.Palmisano hit a crowd-silencing 3-pointer to give the Commodores(20-10) a 46-42 lead with 2:10 left after they had trailed 42-39. Tamecka Dixon led Kansas (25-6) with 22 points.
Palmisano named Academic All-America
Vanderbilt senior guard Michelle Palmisano has been named to the five-member first team GTE Academic All-America college basketball team.
Palmisano was the only representative from the Southeastern Conference to make the first, second, or third team. She boasts the
second-best grade point average on the first team at 3.99 with a double major in biomedical and electrical engineering and is
Vanderbilt's leading scorer.
Palmisano, who averages 12.2 points per game, led the Commodores to first- and second-round NCAA tournament victories over
Washington and Kansas.
Vanderbilt placed five players on the Academic All-SEC team. Joining Palmisano were Angela Gorsica (4.0 GPA), Lisa Ostrom
(3.39), Beth Ostendorf (3.17) and Nettie Respondek (3.13).
Vanderbilt's Palmisano juggles basketball, tennis, grades
(c) 1997 Copyright Nando.net
(c) 1997 Associated Press
(Jan 23, 1997 - 20:24 EST)NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- When Michelle Palmisano leaves Vanderbilt this spring, she ought to pick up a degree for time management along with her degrees in biomedical and electrical engineering.
While pursuing her double-major, she has been a top 3-point shooter for the 11th-ranked Commodores. And as if that wasn't enough to fill her calendar, she decided last fall to walk onto Vandy's tennis team.
"That is one of my goals -- to compete collegiately in tennis," Palmisano said Thursday. "I was fortunate to do that in the fall and win some matches, which was just a great accomplishment for me not playing in so long. And in two months, it will be time to start winning again."
That's when her time with the basketball Commodores (13-4) will end, she hopes with the school's first national championship, in time for the last month of the tennis season.
"It's been understood all along that she's a basketball player first," women's tennis coach Geoff Macdonald said. "We all want to see them go into April."
The chance at a championship combined with Vanderbilt's engineering school prompted her to transfer from UCLA in 1993 after averaging 11.6 points a game as a freshman.
The 5-foot-9 guard leads Vandy from 3-point range averaging 41 percent this season. She's also Vandy's third-leading scorer with 10.9 points a game off the bench.
She also is averaging 3.96 in the classroom this year after winning the Southeastern Conference's Boyd McWhorter Award last year as the league's top woman scholar-athlete with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
Maintaining good grades while playing for Vanderbilt isn't easy with 6 a.m. practices and a tough schedule.
Teammate Angela Gorsica, who trails Palmisano slightly with a 3.86 GPA as an electrical engineering major, said the travel is the tricky part.
"There's a lot of studying whether you're on a plane or on the bus or in the hotel rooms," she said.
Joining another team ranked in the Top 15 wouldn't seem like a very smart idea.
But Palmisano, the youngest of eight children, learned early to go for what she wanted. Her grandfather played in the 1931 World Series with the Philadelphia Athletics. Her father played in the Chicago Cubs' system, and two brothers and three sisters played college basketball.
"It was just so competitive at home for anything, for attention, just trying to get people listen to you, to hear you," she said.
In high school, Palmisano's success in both sports made her want to try her hand at each in college.
She finished as the fourth-highest scorer in California history, and she was the tennis team's most valuable player three of four years at Thousand Oaks High in Ventura, Calif.
Foster didn't worry when Macdonald asked if Palmisano could play tennis last fall. While coaching at St. Joseph's, he watched Debbie Black play basketball, field hockey and softball.
"I had a frame of reference for whether or not it could be done. It's very obvious that it can be done," he said.
Palmisano went 2-4 in singles and was 3-2 in doubles last fall during "B" level play for Vanderbilt. Macdonald said her biggest asset was her emotional intensity.
After graduation, Palmisano hopes to play pro basketball with her older sister, Teresa, in one of the two new pro leagues. She's already applied to several schools to pursue her master's degree with plans for a doctorate.
Staying organized is her key.
"I'm making use of my time is so I can have some free time to sit back and relax for a while, making use of the time, the mood I'm in," she said.
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VU's Palmisano Receives NCAA Basketball Postgraduate Scholarship
April 16, 1997
OVERLAND PARK, Kansas - Vanderbilt women's basketball player Michelle Palmisano is one of 32 students who was awarded a NCAA $5,000 post-graduate scholarship. The NCAA awarded a total of 32 scholarships - 16 men and 16 women - at member institutions. Of the 32 scholarships, 12 were reserved for Division I student-athletes, 12 for student-athletes in Divisions II and III and the remaining eight were awarded at large.
Palmisano joined the VU program in 1993 following one season at UCLA. Upon her arrival, she established indisputable standards of excellence both in the classroom and on the basketball court capped by her 1997 selection as a first-team GTE Academic All-America. Michelle maintained a perfect grade-point average at Vanderbilt as a double major in biomedical and electrical engineering and collected numerous academic honors including a three-time selection to the SEC Academic Honor Roll and was named the recipient of the Boyd McWhorter Award, given annually to the Southeastern Conference's top female scholar-athlete.
Over the 1996-97 season she led the conference in 3-point shooting and set a school record with 83 3-pointers for the year. Her 179 career 3-point baskets is the second most in school history and her average of 59.7 3-pointers per season is the best in program history. As a senior she led the team in scoring with an average of 12.2 points per game and earned second-team all-conference honors. For her career, Michelle averaged only one turnover every 20 minutes and never committed more than three in a single game for Vanderbilt.
To qualify for an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum gradepoint average of 3.00 (4.000 scale) or its equivalent and must have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which the student-athlete was nominated. The student-athlete must also intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time graduate student. In addition, the student-athlete must have behaved both on and off the field in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics.
Palmisano joins former Commodores Julie Powell who received an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship in 1994 and Rhonda Blades who was a 1995 recipient.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPORTSTICKER NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT RECAP (WASHINGTON-VANDERBILT) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (6) VANDERBILT 74, (11) WASHINGTON 62 ------------------------------------- Michelle Palmisano scored 25 points and grabbed six rebounds as sixth-seeded Vanderbilt pulled away in the second half for a 74-62 victory over 11th-seeded Washington in the first round of the West Region at Lawrence, Kansas. Palmisano had 17 points in the first half, helping the Commodores (19-10) establish a 38-35 halftime lead. Nettie Respondek added 13 points and Paige Redman had 10 points and 10 assists for Vanderbilt, which improved to 9-0 in first- and second-round action at the NCAA Tournament. The Commodores will face homestanding Kansas in the second round on Monday. Jamie Redd led Washington (17-11) with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Laure Savasta contributed 14 points and Ana Tuiaea had nine points and 15 rebounds. The Huskies, making their 12th NCAA Tournament in 14 years, held a 56-40 rebounding advantage, but could not overcome 30 percent shooting. Sun Mar 16 02:58:04 EST 1997
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