James R. Parker

James R Parker was a Professor of History at UW La Crosse and also taught in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies and co-founded Ethnic and Racial Studies from 1968 until 2007. The Multicultural Alumni Award carries his name and he has endowed a scholarship devoted to multicultural understanding. He was co-founder of the current Office of Multicultural Studies in 1971 as well as the Department of Ethnic and Racial Studies in 1972. He participated in numerous educational programs including a fellowship at UW-Madison and student and faculty exchanges with historically black colleges and taught internationally in Great Britain. He was appointed by the Wisconsin Governor to the State Affirmative Action Council where he served as Chair from 2005 until 2015. He remains active in scholarship support for students at the University.