John Parker (businessman)


Sir Thomas John Parker, is a British businessman. He was Chairman of Anglo American plc until 2017 and was also previously Chairman of Ombu Group and a Director of Airbus. He is currently a Director of Carnival Corporation & plc. He is also past President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, patron at the Centre for Process Innovation and a Visiting Fellow of the University of Oxford. Parker has chaired five FTSE 100 companies, including National Grid plc, from which he stood down in December 2011.

Early life

Parker was born into a farming family in County Down, Northern Ireland. He attended Belfast College of Technology. In 1958, at age 17, he joined Harland and Wolff as an apprentice naval architect. At Queen's University Belfast he was awarded an Honorary DSc degree in Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture.

Career

He was knighted for services to defence and shipbuilding in 2001. He was also the Chancellor of the University of Southampton, from 2006 to 2011, as well as being a governor of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Other appointments have included membership of the Prime Minister's Business Council for Britain and non-executive director at the Bank of England. He was President of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects from 1996–9. In 2012, he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire, for services to Industry and to the Voluntary Sector. He was conferred with Honorary Fellowship of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland in 2012. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1983. He was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology in 2014.

Personal life

Parker married Emma, a former Latin teacher and pianist in 1967; they have two children. Parker is a Member of the Royal Yacht Squadron.