15 Facts About Mark Parker

Mark Parker was born on October 21,1955 and is an American businessman.

Mark Parker is the executive chairman of Nike, Inc Mark Parker was named the third CEO of the company in 2006 and was president and CEO until January 13,2020.

Mark Parker graduated from Westhill High School in Stamford, Connecticut and later earned his bachelor's degree in Political Science at Penn State University in 1977.

Mark Parker ran on the Penn State track and cross country teams.

Mark Parker became Division Vice President in charge of development in 1987, Corporate Vice President in 1989, General Manager in 1993, and Vice President of Global Footwear in 1998.

Mark Parker still participates in shoe design, most notably on the Nike HTM project, creating limited edition footwear alongside Nike designer Tinker Hatfield and creative consultant Hiroshi Fujiwara.

Mark Parker has committed to ensuring that Nike remain environmentally conscious.

In 2015, Mark Parker was named Fortune's Businessperson of the year.

Mark Parker was elected onto Walt Disney's board of directors early 2016.

In 2019, Mark Parker was criticized by certain right wing media commentators for his embrace of Nike endorser Colin Kaepernick.

Additionally, Mark Parker was criticized for discontinuing a special edition of their Air Max 1 Quick Strike "Betsy Ross flag"-themed sneakers.

In October 2019, Mark Parker announced he would step down as Nike's CEO and become executive chairman of the company effective January 13,2020.

Mark Parker is married to Kathy Mills, a former world record holding track and field athlete whom he met at Penn State.

Mark Parker is an avid arts supporter with an extensive ongoing collection of modern, low brow and underground contemporary art, along with many other one-of-a-kind collectibles, including a cursed monkey.

Mark Parker keeps a pair of bat-boots Nike designed for Michael Keaton to wear in the 1989 Batman movie.