Parker Baum
Parker Baum, who retired as a professor of chemistry in 1987 after 22 years of service, died August 13, 2014, at the Schuyler Ridge Nursing Home in Clifton Park. He was 90.
Parker joined the Skidmore community in 1965, having previously taught for 18 years at Old Dominion College in Norfolk, Virginia. A physical chemist, he taught courses at all levels. An unusually gifted teacher who kept abreast of the latest developments in science teaching, he served the National Science Foundation as a grant-proposal reviewer and was active in the National Association of Teachers.
In addition to teaching science for the scientist, Parker crossed disciplinary boundaries to develop courses for the general college student. His popular course in astronomy grew from a winter-term experiment into a regular laboratory course that was elected by students with diverse majors to meet the lab-science requirement. His interest in the social responsibility of scientists led to winter-term courses in “Science and Society,” “Science and Technology,” and “The Ascent of Man.” His participation in a Writing Across the Curriculum program funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities led to a winter-term course in scientific writing.
Always keenly interested in ways to improve teaching with technology, Parker developed computer exercises and computer-assisted instructional modules for enriching his courses in chemistry and astronomy. He continued this work in retirement.
In 1965, Parker and Professor Emeritus of English Ralph Ciancio were both new, pipe-smoking arrivals from different universities when, on their way to Saratoga Springs, they coincidentally met at the Albany Airport and within two weeks became close friends.
"Clearly he loved the classroom,” Ralph recalls. “Among his notable values as a teacher, he felt an obligatory need to promote literacy among budding chemists, doctors, and engineers, endearing him to the English Department especially when writing across the curriculum became a priority in higher education.” Ralph remembers Parker as "a devoted family man with a quiet, rarely articulated spiritual side that dwelled comfortably alongside an equally reverent commitment to scientific exploration of the universe.”
“He was always looking forward and moving ahead, never looking back,” says Douglas Huston, associate professor emeritus of physics. “Teaching was his primary concern. In addition, Parker was keenly interested in developing courses that demonstrated the role and relationship of science to other disciplines.”
He also had a passion for baseball. “Parker will be remembered first of all for unimpeachable integrity as a professional educator,” Ralph notes. "But I suspect it would also have pleased him to be remembered as a Boston Red Sox enthusiast with an appreciation for any team that beats the Yankees.”
Born December 21, 1923, in Memphis, Tennessee, he was the son of the late Myrtle Carey Parker and Vernon Bryant Baum.
World War II interrupted Parker’s college education. When he heard the news of war, he enlisted in the US Navy. After advanced training at Harvard Communications School, he shipped out into the Pacific, where he saw three years of action as a flagship communications officer in such major battles as Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He was waiting in the Philippines to invade Japan in 1945 when the war ended. After the war, Parker served on the USS Missouri, sailing to Istanbul and then to Rome, where he had an audience with Pope Pius XII. He left the Navy with the rank of lieutenant jr. grade and embarked on his lifelong vocation of college teaching.
Parker received a B.S. degree in chemistry from the College of William and Mary, an M.S. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Parker's survivors include his wife of nearly 60 years, Jane Bailey Baum of Clifton Park; his son Frederick and wife Merry Sue of Nazareth, Pennsylvania; his daughter Nancy Baum Delain and husband James Simpson of Schenectady; and his son James and wife Debra of Boxborough, Massachusetts. He also leaves five grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
Parker brought a style, an energy and a humanity to the teaching of science that will long serve as an example to be emulated.