{"72881":{"#nid":"72881","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Gary Parker Announces Plan to Retire","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAfter forty years of dedicated service to\nGeorgia Tech, R. Gary Parker, associate chair for graduate studies in the H.\nMilton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE), will retire\neffective November 30, 2011. Parker\u0027s primary responsibility has been dealing\nwith policy matters relative to all graduate academic programs, activities, and\ncurricula, including graduate admissions.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EJohn Jarvis, ISyE school chair at the time, appointed Parker to the role of\nassociate chair for academic programs in 1996, a position that included both\nundergraduate and graduate studies.\u0026nbsp; In 2002, a separate undergraduate\nassociate chair was named, and Parker then concentrated solely on graduate\nstudies. Jarvis urged Parker to focus on bringing in the \u201cbest PhD students\npossible.\u201d Parker took Jarvis\u2019 advice and began recruiting some the best and\nbrightest.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u201cI was exceptionally fortunate to have colleagues, especially the school chair,\nwho fully understood what needed to be done and who unselfishly assisted me\nevery step of the way in going after the most talented PhD applicants. It took\na long time, but I do believe that we now operate in a very rarefied air with\nregard to the quality of all of our graduate programs, but most crucially the\nPhD program.\u0026nbsp; At the end of the day, it was that commitment that made good\nthings start to happen,\u201d said Parker.\u0026nbsp; \u0022Along the way, we also\ncreated a separate stand-alone PhD program in operations research. I was and am\nvery proud of that.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nParker began his career at Georgia Tech in ISyE as an assistant professor in\n1972.\u0026nbsp; Since then, he has held the role of associate professor, associate\ndirector for undergraduate programs, professor, associate chair and director of\nacademic programs.\u0026nbsp; Parker is persistent in acknowledging the guidance he\nreceived from faculty members when he joined ISyE, and feels fortunate to have\nhad the opportunity to call them \u201ccolleagues.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u201cMost notably, I would like to point to my old friend C.M. (Mike) Shetty.\u0026nbsp;\nOne of the most scholarly people on the faculty then, he was a senior and\nhighly respected faculty member who found time to interact with me, and slowly,\nhe became more than a colleague, but also a real mentor and ultimately a good\nfriend,\u201d said Parker.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBesides overseeing the graduate academics, Parker remains active in research\nrelative to the following areas: Graphs, Combinatorial Scheduling Theory,\nComplexity Theory. This includes continued participation as a program faculty\nmember in the Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Algorithms, Combinatorics, and\nOptimization.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022Since accepting the role as associate chair for graduate studies, Gary\nhas provided important leadership to ISyE\u2019s graduate programs,\u0022 said Jane\nAmmons, H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair.\u0026nbsp; \u0022I would like\nto thank Gary for his sustained contributions to our program, and wish him joy\nand excellent adventures in the next chapters of his life.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nUpon Parker\u2019s retirement, Paul Kvam, professor in ISyE, will be named new\nassociate chair for graduate studies.\u0026nbsp; Drawing from years of experience,\nParker offers Kvam these words of wisdom:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u201cTry to stay focused on academic quality as well as in program creation.\u0026nbsp;\nMake substantial use of your most esteemed faculty colleagues.\u0026nbsp; Keep some\nsense of humor if at all possible and don\u0027t take yourself too seriously,\u201d\noffered Parker.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAfter forty years of dedicated service to\nGeorgia Tech, Gary Parker, associate chair for graduate studies in ISyE, will retire\neffective November 30, 2011.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27511","created_gmt":"2011-11-18 09:57:06","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:42","author":"Ashley Daniel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-11-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2011-11-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72882":{"id":"72882","type":"image","title":"R. Gary Parker, PhD","body":null,"created":"1449177962","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:26:02","changed":"1475894665","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:25","alt":"R. Gary Parker, PhD","file":{"fid":"193714","name":"parker_gary_-_bust.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/parker_gary_-_bust_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/parker_gary_-_bust_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2523495,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/parker_gary_-_bust_0.jpg?itok=8Tui7YqZ"}}},"media_ids":["72882"],"groups":[{"id":"1242","name":"School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE)"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"1202","name":"H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering"},{"id":"15119","name":"R. Gary Parker"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:barbara.christopher@isye.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBarbara Christopher\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIndustrial and Systems Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404.385.3102\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}