Midland College – The First 50 Years - Dr. Jess Parrish, MC President, 1981-1991November 17, 2022

When Dr. Jess Parrish joined Midland College in 1981, the college was well on its way to becoming an outstanding institution.  Parrish, a native West Texan from Ballinger, served as the founding president of Shelby State College in Memphis, TN before joining Midland College.

“This is my kind of education,” Parrish said in an interview for Midland College:  The First 25 Years.  “I have been blessed with the opportunity to know and understand and have feeling for community colleges.  I haven’t changed my opinion from the day I went into them.”

Parrish was instrumental in leading several accomplishments at Midland College, which include the following:

• Creating a Health Sciences Division that established many of the college’s Health Sciences programs, including the Registered Nurse Associate Degree of Nursing program, and constructing the 22,000-square-foot Davidson Family Health Sciences Building;
• Doubling the size of what would become known as the Scharbauer Student Center;
• Initiating the college’s successful Kids’ College summer enrichment program;
• Reorganizing and expanding the adult continuing education and adult basic education programs;
• Coordinating with the Abell-Hanger Foundation to offer tuition-free scholarships to graduates of Midland County high schools;
• Acquiring acreage on the north part of the campus that became known as the “North 40.”

“Jess had an informal style,” Dr. Deana Savage, special advisor to the president, said.  “He was supportive of individual differences, diversity and innovation.  He would openly say, ‘people take jobs and create and turn them into whatever they choose with their own strengths.’  He let people shape the college and much of those efforts still stand today.”

In addition to his responsibilities on the “home front,” Parrish was also an active community college supporter and lobbyist at both the state and national levels.  As a result of his efforts, he won the Marie Martin Outstanding Junior College Administrator Award in 1986 presented by the Association of Community College Trustees.

His informal approach and leadership capabilities led to his being named one of the top 50 community college presidents in the country in a study conducted by Dr. John Roueche and Dr. George Baker of the University of Texas.  When Parrish retired from Midland College in August 1991, he said he couldn’t think of a better way to spend the last 10 years of his professional career than to spend them at Midland College.

“The roots and foundations were here,” Parrish said in a 1996 interview.  “I inherited an excellent community college, and I quit while I was having fun.”

“I remember Dr. Parrish as a community builder,” retired Associate Vice President of Instruction Dr. Stan Jacobs recalled.  “I believe his greatest accomplishments had to do with building teams within the different areas of the college and encouraging them to work together for the common good.  He understood the importance of the different constituencies and appreciated their differences.”

Parrish enjoyed life in Midland for over 20 years after his retirement.  He passed away in February 2015.

Photo:  After Jess Parrish retired as MC’s second president, the college named the foyer of the Davidson Health Sciences Center in his honor.  Parrish (front, center) is surrounded by several Health Sciences faculty and administrators.  All of these people have now retired from MC.  Front row left to right:  Dr. Celia Harris, Dr. Jess Parrish (deceased and Rita Stotts.  Back row left to right:  William Heathman, Wayne Holcomb (deceased), Dr. Eileen Piwetz and Quinn Carroll.