TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Samuel Emmett Parker, professor emeritus of French at The University of Alabama, died Wednesday, Jan. 28 in Tuscaloosa.
He was 85.
A memorial service for Parker will be held in Tuscaloosa Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Tuscaloosa at 6400 New Watermelon Road in Tuscaloosa.
A funeral service was held in Birmingham at Elmwood Chapel Sunday, Feb. 1.
A Birmingham native and Korean War veteran, Parker joined The University of Alabama faculty in 1964 and served as an assistant professor, associate professor and professor, respectively, of French until his retirement in 1990. He also served as chair of UA’s department of romance languages and classics for two terms and was a member of the Graduate Faculty, distinguishing himself as a teacher, scholar and administrator at UA.
He taught courses in elementary and intermediate French language; advanced French literature and civilization; and graduate courses and seminars in 20th-century French theatre and novel.
“Emmett Parker was a highly respected member of the UA faculty with a reputation for superior scholarship and for implementing curriculum and classroom innovations that expanded and elevated courses in his discipline,” said Dr. Robert Olin, dean of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences. “His legacy of work continues to set an example of academic leadership in our College.”
Parker designed and taught pilot courses for five contract-hour, oral-aural emphasis elementary French courses, later adopted by all modern language courses in his department; designed and taught for the first time at UA courses in French civilization and commercial French; founded the local Eta Theta chapter of Pi Delta Phi, the national French honorary society; and designed and implemented the summer study abroad program in Clermont Ferrand, France, of which he served as academic director in 1976, 1978 and 1984.
He was the author of a critical study, “Albert Camus: The Artist in the Arena,” and of five, book-length translations, the last of which was selected as one of the most outstanding academic books of 1980 and 1981 by Choice magazine. He also delivered numerous papers at the annual meetings of the Modern Languages Association, the South Atlantic Modern Language Association and the Kentucky Modern Foreign Language Conference.
He served on various national, university and departmental committees while at UA, including the Alabama Chapter of the American Association of the Teachers of French, The University of Alabama University Council, The University of Alabama Faculty Senate, and the Humanities and Foreign Language Subcommittee of The University of Alabama Core Curriculum Oversight Committee.
Parker received a bachelor’s degree from Howard College in 1952, a master’s degree from The University of Alabama in 1956 and a doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1963, specializing in 20th-century French theatre and novel. He also attended the University of Aix-Marseille in France in 1959 and 1960.
Parker is survived by Alice Parker; son, Emmett L. Parker (Lorrie Maples Parker); daughter Sylvia A. Parker (Lars Espensen); brother, Donald Parker (Roslyn Parker); grandchildren, Ella Katherine and Harrison Parker; nephew Jesse Parker; and niece Frieda Parker.
Memorial gifts may be made to Heifer International.
Contact
Rebecca Florence, director of college relations, College of Arts and Sciences, 205/348-8538, rebecca.florence@ua.edu