Building Adult Ministries, Leadership for Adults Over 50

Dr. Michael W. Parker, Sr., Ph.D./DSW is a National Institute on Aging (NIA) Post Doctoral Fellow from the University of Michigan, who is currently a tenured, Associate Professor at the University of Alabama. He also serves as a Board Member with the University of Alabama's Center for Mental Health and Aging, and holds an adjunctive appointment with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, where he has active collaborations with interdisciplinary teams of faculty affiliated with UAB. He was selected by the John A. Hartford Foundation as one of ten Geriatric Faculty Scholars nationally in 2002. He is a co-investigator with the NIA-funded UAB Alzheimer's Family Support Center, and he is a research scientist with the U.S. Air War College in Montgomery, AL. He has served as the founding Chair, Aging Veterans and their Families, Gerontological Society of America, and as the principal investigator (PI) on John A. Hartford Foundation and Department of Defense funded research related to health promotion, elder care, successful aging, and spirituality, and as a co-investigator on National Institute of Aging (NIA) RO1 longitudinal research related to the health and mobility of 1,000 Alabama community-dwelling residents over the age of 65. He is the past President of the West Alabama Officers Association, and is a member of two state planning groups on osteoporosis and arthritis.

Nationally, he serves as a grant reviewer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Faith in Action Program. He is the recent recipient of the University of Alabama's Frank R. Egan Award for teaching and exemplary practice. He is member of Phi Alpha Honor Society (University of Alabama honorary), Pi Tau Chi (National Religious Honorary), and Psy Chi (national Psychology Honorary). He is currently working on two federal grant submissions: an STTR Fast Track related to caregiving, and an R01 regarding the Washington Panel Survey, the largest longitudinal survey of Viet Nam War veterans. He served for 20 years in the Regular Army with the US Army Medical Department, serving his country during two foreign wars. He was involved in hostage release missions into Lebanon and Syria, and he served as the Drug and Alcohol Consultant in Europe, which included professional oversight for 95 outpatient clinics, six inpatient programs, 37 adolescent programs, a drug testing lab, and six counselor training schools from 1989-1992. His career work has been described in the Congressional Record of the United States. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, and his military honors include the Order of Military Medical Merit and the Legion of Merit.

He has over 50 peer reviewed publications, and is currently working on three books: The Aging Church: Burden or Legacy; A General for the Ages; and a Handbook on Aging for Christian communities. His externally funded research and associated publications are nationally recognized and address successful aging, parent care giving/long distance care giving, the relationship between faith and health, alcoholism treatment, and the development of intervention models that promote health and prepare people for the next season of life. He holds a BS in economics and an MS in Psychology from Auburn University, a Doctorate from the University of Alabama.

Dr. Parker is married to Lane ‘Knudsen’ Parker of Mobile, and they have four children. Their daughters are happily married, and their two sons are attending the University of Alabama in Business and Law. They have one son (in law) who is currently serving in Iraq as a C-130 pilot.