Brooks Parker

Brooks Parker came from a prominent mainline Philadelphia family, and graduated with a BS degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1911, captaining the fencing team in his senior year. He then joined the New York insurance firm of Chubb & Son in 1911, serving until he entered the service for World War I. During the war he was assistant director of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance in the US Treasury. He later served as assistant secretary-general to the Pan-American Financial Conference in Washington in 1915, and assistant secretary of the US delegation to the International High Commission on the Uniformity of Air Laws Conference in Buenos Aires in 1916. He also served as a pilot during the war, ending his commission as a lieutenant. In 1924, Parker formed Parker & Co., an aviation and general insurance firm, and he served as senior partner throughout his life. Brooks Parker was a pioneer in establishing the airline industry in the United States, and was a director and consultant for numerous airline companies. As an athlete, Parker competed in two Olympic Games (1920/24) as a fencer, after captaining the Penn fencing team his senior year. After he stopped competing as a fencer, he developed an interest in equestrian sports. In 1947 he formed a group trying to obtain the 1952 Olympic Games for Philadelphia. While that did not materialize, he was named to the IOC in 1950, only to die one year later.