Chad Parker, Ph.D.

Chad H. Parker, Ph.D., is the Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs, Faculty Development and Academic Outreach and Associate Professor of History at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Before serving in his current role, he spent one year as Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, six years as Department Head in the Department of History, Geography, and Philosophy. He served as Graduate Coordinator for the MA program in History, Chair of the Graduate Council for two terms, and President of the Faculty Senate. In March 2017, he won the Dr. Ray Authement Excellence in Teaching Award at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Parker is a historian of the U.S. in the World and has published on American companies operating in the Middle East. His book Making the Desert Modern: Americans, Arabs, and Oil on the Saudi Frontier, 1933 to 1973 (2015) explores the role the Arabian American Oil Company played in U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and how it employed various development schemes to exploit the kingdom for its human and natural resources. He is working on two projects currently. One examines non-state actors involved in American foreign affairs in the Antarctic, while the other explores the broader role of oil in American history. In addition to his work as a scholar, teacher, and administrator on campus, he plays bass guitar and enjoys inventing projects to do around his house.