UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — William Parquette, professor of practice in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, will present the college’s annual McMurtry Lecture at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10, in E202 Westgate Building on the University Park campus.
As the 2022-23 recipient of the George McMurtry Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award, Parquette will give the audience a glimpse into his classroom through his talk titled “A Reflection of 43 Years of Teaching and Learning.” In his teaching he draws on his storied career to develop individual and group assignments to keep students engaged and interested.
“This is my fourth profession; I have had the luck and good fortune to travel the world, live and work on six continents and interact with senior officials in government and the military,” said Parquette. “I try to bring every bit of that experience into the classroom.”
Before coming to IST in 2019, Parquette was the chairman of the Foreign Denial and Deception Committee of the National Intelligence Council, Office of the Director of National Intelligence. He was a full-time faculty at the National Intelligence University for 13 years and with the National Intelligence Council for 16 years. He has 27 years of experience in strategic intelligence, denial and deception operations, planning, analysis and collection as an operator, educator and senior policy advisor. He is well versed in the sources of foreign knowledge, adversarial reasoning, information security and management as it pertains to issues in the government and Intelligence Community.
Parquette is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel with 22 years of active service. He has a clear understanding of the functions of the Intelligence Community and has lived and worked in several European, Asian and Middle Eastern countries. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University, a master's degree in business from Webster University, and a master’s degree in education from Loyola University Maryland.
Established in 2002, the McMurtry Award is given annually to a tenure-track or full-time fixed term IST faculty member at the University Park campus. Funded by George McMurtry, one of the founders of IST and former associate dean of the College of Engineering, the award celebrates faculty who demonstrate innovative teaching methods, a commitment to student learning and creative interaction with students. Parquette was announced as the 2022-23 recipient of the award earlier this fall.
More information on Parquette’s Nov. 10 lecture can be found here. The talk is open to the entire Penn State community.