Parsons also served as chairman of the Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc. and sat on the boards of several arts, educational, and commercial organizations, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Citigroup, and Este Lauder, Inc. Parsons served as trustee of numerous Rockefeller entities, including one that holds stock in all of the family businesses. George and Laura welcomed their twin daughters, Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush, on November 25, 1981. Henry Louis Gates Jr. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. The hope was that by combining forces they would make the most successful merger in history: AOL would have access to Time Warner's massive media content and it would be able to reach even more users thanks to TW's cable television operations. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Niece of George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Doro Bush, Marvin Bush and Jeb . A lawyer and politician, John Vliet Lindsay (born 1921) was a member of the U.S. Congress from 1959 to 1965 and mayor of New York, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/parsons-richard-dean-1948, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/parsons-richard-dean-1948-0, http://news.com.com/2009-1023-873910.html, http://money.cnn.com/2003/09/18/technology/aol_name, http://money.cnn.com/2001/12/05/ceos/parsons_profile, https://www.encyclopedia.com/general/culture-magazines/parsons-richard, http://www.hawaii.edu/offices/bor/honorary/php?person=RP, https://www.encyclopedia.com/african-american-focus/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/parsons-richard. Born: March 28, 1946, in Chicago, Illinois., Public Company By the mid-1970s Parsons was noted as a rising star among black professionals, and he was profiled inBlack Enterprises Under 30 & Moving Up series in 1975. Hayden, Thomas. laura bush parsonsis ora king salmon safe to eat. Parsons skipped two grades and graduated from high school at the age of sixteen. Although Parsons refused that position, he consented to work as chairman of the citys Economic Development Corporation. They have three grown children: Gregory, Leslie and Rebecca. "Honorary Degrees Conferred by the University of Hawaii." He ruminates for some time before addressing the. As a result, the company struggled to maintain its credibility, its stock prices tumbled, and it faced $27 billion in debt. However, he discovered that he could get into a law school in New York without a college degree if he scored well enough on his pre-law exams. April 21, 2021 11:45 am ET. Critical to the next chapter in the Parsons success story was his work with the Dimes Saving Bank of New York, which he provided with legal counsel for about six years while with Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler. Its a statement by and to corporate America that there are no more areas where African Americans havent succeeded, he told the New York Times in 1990. Parsons began his career working as a lawyer and counsel for former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller. Among the qualities that makes Parsons as successful as he is, said Brooks, are "his focus, his ability to analyze the facts and get to the bottom line, and his ability to motivate an. Parsons was chosen by Mayor Giuliani to head the Transition Council and later in 1993 to be the deputy mayor for economic development. In 2009, he had a child with model-philanthropist MacDella Cooper due to an extra-marital affair. Parsons also worked on the transition team for Michael Bloomberg, who was elected Mayor of New York City in 2001. There are a number of other black executives who have elevated positions in corporate America, said Parsons in Black Enterprise. He is also Chair of the Apollo Theater Foundation and Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. He was one of five children. You cant give something to somebody to have, said Parsons in the same article. Born April 4, 1948 in Brooklyn, NY; son of Lorenzo tocklair (an airline technician) and Isabelle (a homemaker; maiden name, Judd) Parsons; married Laura Ann Bush, August 30, 1968; children: Gregory, Leslie, Rebecca Education: Graduated from University of Hawaii, 1968; Union University, University of Albany Law School J.D., 1971. He was born on April 4, 1948, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in the New York borough of Queens. In addition to his work for Rockefeller and the Ford administration, the lawyer-turned-banker-turned media executive served in various political roles throughout his career. Decker, Ed. Mayor Giuliani later asked Parsons to become his Deputy mayor for Economic Development. Time Warners record division was experiencing difficulty, and company officials were suspicious about the designs of Edgar Bronfman of the Seagram Companies, which owned 15 percent of the companys stock. He graduated at the age of twenty-three, number one of more than 100 students and received the highest score among 3,600 lawyers in 1971 who took the state bar exam. In 1994, Gerald Levin (1939), chairman of Time Warner (TW), openly recruited Parsons to take over as president of the company. Decker, Ed; Minderovic, Christine "Parsons, Richard Dean 1948 [4][27], In 2009, he had a child with model-philanthropist MacDella Cooper as a result of an extra-marital affair. Business executive Richard Parsons has been called a teddy bear, a master diplomat, and a charmer, but perhaps the best description that has been applied to him is "friendly giant." The world's most influential media company, however, was struggling. He has claimed that race was never a defining character in his life. lauren bush david laura miranda kerr coocoo coconut oil marries models. With the bank on solid ground, Parsons set his sights on a new enterprise. He became such a trusted adviser that in 1974, when Rockefeller headed to Washington to serve I dont do anything differently than I would otherwise because I have that responsibility to my family, he told the New York Times in 1994. Although Richard Dean Parsons regularly makes Fortune magazine's annual list of the most powerful people in business, and he is considered to be one of the most respected African American executives in the country, he came from an average working-class background. Peter J. Ed Decker and Christine Miner Minderovic. After graduation, he attended college at the University of Hawaii, where he excelled both academically and socially; Parsons was a varsity basketball player and the social chairman of his fraternity. Parsons became chairman emeritus of the Partnership for New York City,[19] established by David Rockefeller in 1979,[20] who has known him for many years. In September 2018, Parsons became the Interim Chairman of the Board for CBS replacing Les Moonves. The proud parents were by Jenna's side when she married her husband, Henry Hager, in. He stepped down as CEO of Time Warner on December 31, 2007. The merger was made official in 2001, when AOL purchased Time Warner for a reported $168 billion. At Union University of the University of Albany Law School, Parsons helped pay his way through school by working part-time as a janitor and later as an aide in the State Assembly. Left to my own devices, I dont feel any compulsion to strive, he told the New York Times in 1990. Left to my own devices, I dont feel any compulsion to strive, he told the New York Times in 1990. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 22, 2002, C3. An article in Business Week Online stated that after accepting the Time Warner presidency, "Parsons gradually made himself indispensable to Time Warner by taking on tough assignments that the increasingly insular Levin could not do himself." . Llewellyn, J. Bruce 1927 ." In 1993 Parsons was criticized by other blacks for supporting Rudolph Giuliani in the New York City mayoral race, instead of the incumbent Democrat, black mayor David Dinkins. NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 18: L to R: Stephen Byrd and Jessye Norman, Laura Bush Parsons and Richard Parsons attend Apollo Club Harlem at The Apollo Theater on February 18, 2013 in New York City. Black Enterprise, October 1994, pp. Los Angeles Times, January 13, 2001, p. C1; December 6, 2001, p. C1. In African American Lives. In 1977 deputy attorney general Harold R. Tyler Jr. requested Parsons to come aboard at Patterson, Belknap, Webb, & Tyler where he became a partner in two years, a move that usually demands seven years. Facebook gives people the power to. Parsons also had to deal with an onslaught of unhappy regulators. In contrast, he embraced the Rockefeller Republicans' philosophy of equipping a group with skills so they can achieve what they need on their own. 23 Feb. 2023 . . The bank suffered many losses due to New York City real estate devaluation in the 1980s and during the previous year had lost $92.3 million. Parsons had no clear idea what direction to take after college, but at the prompting of Laura, he decided to go to law school. Parsons answered these reservations by promising to devote his full attention to his new $525,000-a-year post. Parsons' grandfather, Judd, was a groundskeeper on Pocantico, part of the Rockefeller estate, long before Parsons became a protg of Nelson Rockefeller. He was also in charge of the legal department and human resources. newzjunky louise bartholomew nicole edward. After all, Parsons had sat on the company's board of directors for several years, and had developed close ties with top TW executives. In doing so, he became the first African American to head a lending institution of such proportion. I have other things I'm focused on." He graduated number one in his class of more than 100 students at the age of 23, then received the highest marks among 3, 600 lawyers who took the state bar examination in 1971. He became an advisory trustee of the family's principal philanthropy, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and he sits with David Rockefeller on the board of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. [3], Parsons was born to an African-American family in Brooklyn, New York City, on April 4, 1948. 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