Vernon D. Parker

College of Science

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Teaching at Utah State since 1988, Vernon D. Parker is internationally renowned in several fields of physical and organic chemistry and is consistently characterized as a “creative” scientist, finding new approaches to old problems. He has published more than 320 papers, on nearly all of which he was the senior author. Parker’s research addresses the foundation of chemistry by questioning beliefs that have long been held about chemical reactions. He was one of the first to utilize the methods of electrochemistry to answer organic chemistry questions, including those related to the transfer of radical ions. Because of his research findings, Parker is among the most effective contributors to the experimental observation of quantum tunneling, which is the inexplicable movement of particles, in organic reactions.