Thomas W. Parks

Prof. Tom Parks was my PhD advisor, mentor, friend, father figure. I admired him and aspired for how he thinks. He's the reason why I wanted to go to Cornell. But it was his humility, friendship, support, and enthusiasms that define my relationship with this wonderful man. He gave me life advices, and always looked after me. We shared many laughs, meals, and wine together.

You'd never know that he was a giant in the signal processing world seeing him goof around. But he had his...

Photo taken in 1999(?) of PhD students from the 70's.
Luck brought us together in 1970 at Rice. Looking back on it, Tom was the perfect PhD advisor for me. He generated lots of interesting research ideas that fueled our research. Tom's mentoring launched my career, and then he became a life-long friend as we collaborated on diverse projects with Schlumberger and Mathworks. In 1986 Carolyn and I traveled with Tom and Martha to China and Japan, and saw China when it was still...

Tom Parks was a world-class researcher whose contributions are still fundamental to technologies used literally by billions of people every day. He was also a great mentor and model to me, both professionally and personally. His curiosity and openness to both new research areas and to real-world applications, and his unusual combination of confidence and humility in approaching them, are hallmarks of him that greatly influenced my approach to my own research and career, and to broader life. I...

We are very sorry to learn of Tom's passing. Our condolences to the entire family. May his light shine in your lives and fond memories lessen
your sorrow.
Dorian and Terry Fine

Prof. Parks was my Cornell advisor from 1997 to 2002. Career-wise, I owe him so much! He was incredibly good with providing intuitive explanations to complex mathematical problems. Thank you, Prof. Parks! Rest in Peace!

Dear Martha and Susan, I’m very sorry to read about Tom’s death. It sounds like he had a very enjoyable retirement but I’m sure that you miss him very much. I remember you both from our days in Girl Scouts. Barbara Stasavage( Maria’s mom)

Tom was my best friend. We played golf together when were supposed be in class. I got him to read Ben Hogan's book in 1964, He went from a 30 handicap down to 12.
I'll miss you Tom and you're in our prayers. This is a very sad day for me and Jeanie.

Tom was a creative, innovative scholar who was a delight to work with.

Peace