John G. Parsons, FASLA, joined the National Park Service in 1967 and spent 41 years directing the development of the 80,000 acres of parks within Washington, DC and the National Capital Region. From 1977 to his retirement in 2008 he served as the Associate Regional Director where he represented the Secretary of the Interior on numerous boards and commissions. During his tenure he directed the siting and design of 25 new memorials in the Nation's Capital, the establishment of five new units of the National Park System and the acquisition of 35,000 acres of new parklands. He was awarded the Department of the Interior's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, and is a Fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects, which awarded him the 2003 Lagasse Medal for his leader-ship in protecting and enhancing parklands. In 2006 he was awarded the Herbert Adams Award by the National Sculpture Society for his support of sculpture in national memorials. In 2008 the Mayor of the District of Columbia presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contributions in historic preservation
