Awards & Scholarships

Earl Randall Parker, an expert on steels, was born in Denver on Nov. 22, 1912. Parker received his degree in metallurgical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in 1935, then worked for nine years as a Research Metallurgist for the General Electric Company's Research Laboratory in Schenectady, New York. In 1944 he joined the faculty at the University of California and has served as Chairman of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and as Director of the Institute of Engineering Research.

Professor Parker has authored three books, more than 130 technical papers and holds several patents. He has received many honors and awards, Professor Parker was named California Scientist of the Year in 1970. He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Society for Metals (ASM) and the American Physical Society, and he served as president of the ASM in 1967. He received the Gold Medal Award of the American Society for Metals in 1972 and the Gold Medal of the American Society for Engineering Education. He was awarded the National Medal of Science, the country's highest honor for a scientist, by U. S. President Carter in 1979.

Mr. Parker also was known as a wonderful teacher and mentor and received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1972 from the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate. Upon his retirement in 1978 he was awarded the Berkeley Citation, the highest honor the Berkeley campus can bestow.