The Larry Parks Endowed Scholarship in the McCombs School of Business was established by the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System on March 28, 2012, to benefit the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin. Gift funds were provided by Mr. Larry D. Parks.

Parks was born in Shamrock, Texas, in 1947. He grew up in Memphis, Texas, and attended UT on a Landman Scholarship from the Panhandle chapter of the American Petroleum Association.

After two years of study, however, Parks gave up the scholarship and changed his major from geology to finance. He earned a BBA in finance in 1970.

Parks was employed by the Department of the Treasury in 1970 under the division of the Office of the Comptroller of Currency. He continued that job, first in Longview, Texas, and then in Wichita Falls, Texas, as a national bank examiner.

In 1973 Parks joined his father, Ben Parks, as an executive officer of the First National Bank of Memphis. Ben Parks had been a banker in the Texas Panhandle from 1926 to 1981, and when the bank was sold in 1983, Larry Parks became its president and CEO.

After moving to Rockwall, Texas, in 1985, Parks completed his last 25 years in banking with the American National Bank of Texas.

Parks married in 1970. His children, Paige and Murphy, earned degrees at UT Austin. The Parks family has established a true burnt orange legacy, earning nine degrees thus far. One more family member, a grandniece of Parks, now attends the university.

Parks says of his UT experience, “UT opened many doors for me and taught me much about life and business. As a youth no one could understand why I would want to attend such a large university so far from home. UT has continued to be a source of pride and encouragement throughout my life. I hope to share this wonderful opportunity with a business student from a small Texas community.”