Mark Parker was born on October 21, 1955, in Poughkeepsie, New York. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science graduating from Penn State University in 1977. Mark ran on the Penn State track and cross country teams. Mark clearly belongs to the world of running and sports. He is married to Kathy Mills Parker and has three grown children. Kathy happens to be a former world record holder in the 5,000 meters.
His interest with designing shoes lay in his desire to make a better running shoe. This was all part of his goal to trying to have a faster marathon time. He made sketches and created soles and glued them on his Asics to see if they worked.
After graduating from college he joined Nike in 1979 and was one of the company’s first footwear designers in their R&D facility in Exeter, New Hampshire working in a startup-like environment. Mark 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. In March 2001 he became co-president of the Nike brand and would eventually become Vice President of Nike. In 2006 he became the third CEO of Nike.
Mark led the way for Nike Air and numerous industry-breakthroughs in product design. He is described as having a mild and subtle way of changing an opinion. Mark also deals directly with superstar athletes like Kobe Bryant and Serena Williams. Being a shoe designer at heart he is able to relate to them in the designs of shoes that carry their name. As an athlete himself Mark knows how they feel and what are their needs. He takes to heart a phrase that is important to Nike “Serve the athlete.”
Annual revenue has double at Nike from $15 billion to $30.6 since Mark took over as CEO in 2006. Share price has risen sixfold from $21 in January 2006 to $125 in early October 2015.
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