Parker, John M.

Parker (1920- ), a geologist and oil explorer, was born in Kansas and graduated from Kansas State University in 1941. After working for Stanolind Oil, Parker joined Kirby Petroleum Company in 1952 and was in charge of exploration in the western United States and Canada. In 1975 he started a private geological consulting firm in Denver, Colorado conducting geological and petroleum exploration.

John M. Parker, explorer, geologist, geophysical interpreter, and oil finder, was born in Manhattan, Kansas, in 1920. He received a B.S. in geology from Kansas State University in 1941. He also attended undergraduate courses at the University of Minnesota and the University of Wyoming and completed graduate courses at Kansas State.

After a short period as a geologist with the Kansas Highway Commission, Parker worked with the United States Public Roads Administration on the Alaska Highway. He then did field work on the Canol Project with Imperial Oil Ltd. in the Northwest Territories of Canada. In 1944 he became district geologist with Stanolind Oil and Gas Company. Parker joined Kirby Petroleum Company in 1952 as manager of their Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast Operations and subsequently became Vice-President-Exploration in Houston, Texas. He then moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1974 where he served as Vice-President-Exploration for Northwest Exploration Company. In 1975 Parker began a private geological consulting business in Denver. He gained broad experience in exploring many geologic provinces, including areas outside North America such as Ecuador and Jamaica.

Parker is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, serving as president during 1982-83. He is also a past-president of the Billings Geological Society and Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists. In 1979 the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists honored him with the Explorer of the Year Award, and Kansas State University presented him with a Distinguished Service in Geology Award in 1983. Parker has published many papers relating to the occurrence of oil and gas, including many structural and stratigraphic papers in the Rocky Mountain Region.

Dr. John Mason Parker, III, was born September 6, 1906 in Owego, New York. He earned his undergraduate degree, as well as a masters degree and Ph.D. in Geology from Cornell University in 1933 and 1935 respectively. Dr. Parker first worked for N.C. State University (then State College) from 1935 to 1942. He then worked for the United States Geological Survey in Washington, D.C., before rejoining State College as an associate professor of Geology in 1946. He continued a part-time relationship with the U.S. Geological Survey until 1961. From 1955 to 1967, he served as Professor-in-Charge of Geological Engineering, in the Department of Mineral Industries. From 1967 till his retirement in 1972, Dr. Parker was Professor of Geology in the Department of Geosciences. After retiring, from 1982 to 1984 he assisted the state geological survey in preparing and publishing an updated state geological map. He died on April 25, 1995.

His fields of research interest included petrology, structural geology of the Appalachian region, and the economic geology of pegmatite minerals and of clays.