Peter John Parks, 51, Passes

Rutgers Professor Peter John Parks, 51, (1960 – 2012) passed away in early April after a year-long battle with cancer.

Peter seemed destined to be an academician from birth. He was born at the Stanford University Hospital to parents George Albert Parks, a professor at the university, and Anna, an administrative manager at Hewlett-Packard. He proved a keen and able student, achieving great aptitude in high school and beginning what became an enduring connection to higher education.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University, and a master’s degree in Environmental Science, Management and Policy from the University of California–Berkeley. Peter received a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from UC-Berkley in 1987, launching a life-long passion for teaching. He became a professor at Duke University in 1986, eventually chairing the university’s Resource Economics and Policy Program and coordinating its Concurrent MBA Programs until 1993.

That year Peter joined the Rutgers Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics where he specialized in environmental and resource economics, focusing in recent years on land use analysis. Professor Parks also taught Managerial Economics classes in the Rutgers Executive MBA program, in New Jersey, China and Singapore. He rapidly became a legend in the program, earning high praise for his amazing ability to weave together complex theory with real-world applications. He is credited with being a key reason for the success of the program, leading to the Financial Times ranking the Rutgers Executive MBA program number three in the world in Economics in 2011. Peter was also a Research Associate at the Environmental Economics Unit at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. There, he taught in the Ph.D program in environmental economics, in which many of the matriculated students come from developing countries.

At Rutgers, Peter was a dedicated and popular teacher who did more than his share of department service, mentored junior faculty without being asked, and used his considerable intellect to publish in the field’s top journals. He brought a deep generosity of spirit in a job that he absolutely loved, helping colleagues solve their own problems of management or scholarship.  Peter combined incredible scholarly focus with a positive, spiritual outlook on life.  He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

Peter spent almost 20 years as a resident of East Brunswick. He is survived by his wife of 24 years Bonnie; children Monica and Daniel; parents; and sister Louisa. Donations in Peter Parks’ memory may be made to the American Cancer Society, https://www.cancer.org/involved/donate/donateonlinenow/index. Good night sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.