Alan Parker BA Ph.D. Senior Lecturer in Public Administration at Teesside Polytechnic, Died 7th November 1988
| Published date | 01 July 1988 |
| Date | 01 July 1988 |
| DOI | 10.1177/095207678800300301 |
| Author | John Taylor |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
ALAN
PARKER,
BA
Ph.D.
SENIOR
LECTURER
IN
PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
AT
TEESSIDE
POLYTECHNIC,
DIED
7th
NOVEMBER
1988
Alan
Parker
who
died
suddenly
on
the
7th
November
1988
is
profoundly
missed
by
his
present
and
former
colleagues
and
students
of
Public
Administration
at
Teesside
Polytechnic,
and
by
the
many
academics
who
knew
him
from
other
insti-
tutions
around
the
country.
Alan's
achievements
were
manifold
and
his
legacy
at
Teesside
will
be
long
lasting.
High
amongst
Alan's
achievements
was
the
reconstruction
in
the
early
1980's
of
Teesside's
BA
in
Public
Administration.
He
successfully
led,
steered,
organised
and
cajoled
his
colleagues
into
fashioning
a
course
which
remains
in
place
at
Teesside
and
which
is
widely
admired.
The
course
has
found
considerable
favour
with
the
many
students
who
went
through
it,
with
the
staff
who
taught
on
it,
and
with
the
external
examiners
and
assessors
who
adjudicated
upon
it.
Alan's
admirable
sense
of
the
nature
of
public
administration
brought
balance
and
coher-
ence
to
the
course
and
his
strengths
will
be
greatly
missed
in
future
reviews
of
this
and
other
teaching
programmes
at
Teesside.
Alan's
academic
interests
ranged
widely.
He
began
his
academic
career
at
Teesside
(having
arrived
from
a
post
at
the
University
of
Manchester)
as
a
special-
ist
teacher
of
US
politics
and
administration.
That
interest
continued
throughout
his
career
and
was
added
to
by
the
teaching
of
administrative
theory
and
policy
analysis,
and
by
a
developing
interest
in
local
government
in
the
UK.
Whatever
his
academic
interests
a
common
thread
could
often
be
discerned
linking
them
together
-
that
of
public
service
ethics.
Alan's
research
findings
and
commentaries
on
the
subject
of
ethics
in
govern-
ment
have
been
published
in
a
number
of
academic
sources.
He
published
on
the
'Whistleblower'
in
US
politics
and
on
issues
related
to
standards
of
conduct
in
UK
local
government.
His
work
will
doubtless
be
of
lasting
value
and
it
is
a
source
of
great
regret
that
the
plans
he
was
working
on
to
develop
his
research
on
ethics
will
not
now
be
implemented.
On
the
national
stage
Alan's
hopelessly
untimely
death
was
met
with
profound
shock
and
sadness.
His
work
on
the
CNAA
and
on
the
Public
Administration
Committee
of
the
Joint
University
Council
meant
that
Alan
was
widely
known.
Moreover,
his
advice
on
course
development
in
the
institutions
which
he
visited
throughout
the
country
was
always
highly
valued.
The
many
tributes
and
acknowl-
edgements
to
Alan
which
have been
received
since
his
death
bear
witness
to
Alan's
professionalism,
and
indeed
to
the
affection
in
which
he
was
held
too.
Disbelief
still
surrounds
the
passing
of
Alan
Parker,
a
young
man
not
yet
40,
who
leaves
a
widow,
Vicky
and
two
small
children
Dominic
and
Freya.
His
good
humour,
his
personal
modesty,
his
calming
and
balancing
influence,
and
his
gen-
uine
good
nature
with
colleagues
and
friends,
are
all
qualities
for
which
he
will
be
long
remembered
and
sadly
missed.
John
Taylor
Teesside
Polytechnic
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