Douglas H. Parker

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Douglas H. Parker (born 1926) is a former law school professor. He began his law teaching career as a Harry A. Bigelow Teaching Fellow (1952–53) at the University of Chicago Law School and later taught as a professor of law at the University of Colorado College of Law (1953–75) and the Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School (1975-1991).

Early life and education

Douglas H. Parker, the second of four children, was born in 1926 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to parents Casper Hugh Parker and Carrie Hansen. Parker graduated from high school at the age of 16 and immediately enrolled at the University of Utah. During his second year at the university, Parker took the medical school admissions test and was accepted to medical school.

In 1944 during World War II, at age 18, Parker delayed entering medical school and enlisted in the Navy. Parker was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Base near Chicago where he served as a surgery technician (scrub nurse) passing instruments in the operating room in over 400 operations.

Upon the close of World War II, Parker returned to Salt Lake City and subsequently served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Eastern United States (1946–48). During his mission service, Parker served as a counselor in the mission presidency. Later in life (1977–80) he served as a bishop of a LDS ward in Provo, Utah.

After his church mission, Parker continued school at the University of Utah where he graduated with a B.A. in Political Science. He then entered law school at the University of Utah. At law school, Parker was a founding editor of the University of Utah Law Review and graduated first in his class.

Career

In 1952 upon graduation from law school, Parker received a distinguished Harry A. Bigelow Teaching Fellowship at the University of Chicago Law School, a fellowship given to top law school graduates in the country. At Chicago, Parker taught courses in Legal Writing, Legal Research, and Legal Analysis.

In 1953, Parker accepted a faculty position at the University of Colorado College of Law.^[1] As a professor of law, he taught courses primarily involving client care-taking: civil procedure, wills and trusts, equitable remedies, damages, and legal ethics. While at Colorado, Parker and colleague William J. Bowe accepted an invitation to revise the multi-volume treatise Page on Wills, (a five-volume treatise of the United States' law on wills and decedents' estates) expanding it to eight volumes. Parker taught at the University of Colorado for 22 years.

In 1975, Parker accepted a faculty position at Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School where he sought to expand his intellectual grasp of the province and function of law in teaching a variety of new subjects of a comparative law nature: Federal Indian law, Roman law, Jewish law, Jurisprudence (Legal Philosophy), Professional Responsibility (Legal Profession and Legal Ethics), and Conflicts of Laws.

In 1986, Parker was the first law professor to be awarded BYU’s Karl G. Maeser distinguished teaching award. He taught at BYU until 1991 when he retired. In recognition of Parker’s contributions to legal education, a former student established in Parker's honor the "Douglas H. Parker Award." The award is presented annually to the student who attains the highest grade in Jurisprudence or Federal Indian Law.^[2]

Following his retirement, Parker continued occasionally to teach at other law schools as a visiting professor. When teaching in China with his wife Corene (1975–76), he was awarded the Excellent Teacher Award by the Shandong Province Education Commission. He claimed the award should have been awarded to Corene.

Faculty Positions

• Bigelow Teaching Fellowship, University of Chicago, 1952–53
• Professor of Law, University of Colorado, 1953–75
• Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, 1975–91

Visiting Faculty Positions

• University of Utah College of Law, (American Indian Law), Summer 1979
• University of Arizona School of Law, (CLEO-Legal Analysis & Writing), Summer 1980, 1987
• University of Missouri – Columbia School of Law, (Wills & Trusts), Summer 1981
• University of Alabama School of Law, (Professional Responsibility), Summer 1982
• Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Visiting Research Professor, 1983
• University of New Mexico School of Law, (CLEO-Legal Analysis & Writing ), Summer 1985
• Stetson University College of Law, Culverhouse Chair Professor of Law, (Federal Indian Law; Law and Religion)1994
• Shandong Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China, Certified Foreign Expert, (English reading, writing, listening, speaking to post-graduate doctors) 1995–96
• Concordia International University Estonia, Tallinn, Estonia, (Roman Law), 1998
• BYU Hawaii, (Jewish History, Tradition, and Law), Spring 2004

Membership in professional and honorary associations

• International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (Honorary Membership)
• International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy
• Institute of Judicial Administration
• Institute of Jewish Law
• The Jewish Law Association (Member of International Executive Committee, 1990–91)
• Colorado Bar Association
• Utah Bar Association
• Order of the Coif
• Phi Kappa Phi

Professional Activities and Community Service

• Wrote questions for the California Bar Examination for ten years (Wills)
• Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Committee, Colorado Bar Association (1955–57)
• Former Legal Consultant to and Member of Technical Advisory Committee on Radiation Protection, Colorado Department of Public Health
• Former Member, Junior College Study Committee of Board of Education, Boulder County RE-2 School District
• Former Chairman, Arbitration Panel under Colorado Teacher Tenure Act
• Former Member, Board of Directors, Colorado Continuing Legal Education, Inc.
• Member, Statutory Revision Committee, Probate and Trust Law Section, Colorado Bar Association
• Faculty Director and participating instructor, Fraud Investigator Conference (nine two-week national conferences, 1967–73, funded and sponsored by the United States Bureau of Employment Security, U.S. Dept. of Labor)
• Faculty Director and participating instructor, Appeals Referees Conference (two two-week national conferences, 1971–72, funded and sponsored by the United States Bureau of Employment Security, U.S. Dept. of Labor)
• Special Investigator (1972), Colorado Commission on Judicial Qualifications (to conduct investigation into charges of misconduct and to make recommendations concerning institution of formal discipline hearings against offending judges)
• Faculty Member (1975) Annual Educational Conference, National College of Probate Judges
• Former Member, Ethics Advisory Committee, Utah State Bar, 1983

Major Publications

Personal life

In 1950 Parker married Corene Cowan. They have seven children, four sons and three daughters, 36 grandchildren, and 23 great grandchildren. Three of Parker's sons have followed his footsteps and are lawyers. Parker lives a physically active life and has run fifteen marathons, the last of which at age 66. Parker also enjoys cross-country skiing, backpacking, hunting, and fishing. Parker enjoys writing essays in which he engages in philosophical, religious, theological analysis, speculation, and criticism. He has produced over 200 such essays in four volumes:

1. Journeys of the Mind, 1985–2001
2. After Midnight Thoughts, 1989–91
3. A Wee Collection of Innocent Thoughts Experienced While Mowing the Lawn, 2002–03
4. Searching for the Obvious, 2004–06

Parker also enjoys writing free verse poetry and has written over 90 poems.

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