ASTM Bestows Cavanaugh Memorial Award upon Dr. Jack E. Parr.
Press Release Summary:
Due to his outstanding and longstanding, distinguished leadership in promoting national and international standards for medical and surgical implants and materials, Jack E. Parr, Ph.D., chairman and CEO of Extremity Innovations and president of Medical Technology Development, was honored with ASTM International's 2013 William T. Cavanaugh Award. Parr has been member of ASTM International and Committee F04 on Medical and Surgical Materials and Devices since 1981.
Original Press Release:
Dr. Jack E. Parr Receives 2013 Cavanaugh Memorial Award from ASTM International
W. CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.—Jack E. Parr, Ph.D., chairman and CEO of Extremity Innovations, Cordova, Tenn., and president of Medical Technology Development, Memphis, Tenn., has been honored with ASTM International’s 2013 William T. Cavanaugh Award. Parr received the award for his outstanding and longstanding distinguished leadership in promoting national and international standards for medical and surgical implants and materials.
The award commemorates W.T. Cavanaugh, chief executive officer of ASTM from 1970 to 1985.
Parr has been a member of ASTM International and Committee F04 on Medical and Surgical Materials and Devices since 1981, soon after he began working in the medical device industry for Zimmer Inc. He currently serves as chairman of the F04 committee and as chairman of Subcommittee F04.44 on Assessment for TEMPs (tissue engineered medical products); he has held other subcommittee and main committee officer positions. Parr has been involved in the F04 planning subcommittee, has organized and chaired three symposia that have resulted in Special Technical Publications, and has recruited technical experts to participate in F04 work.
A former member of the ASTM International board of directors, Parr was recognized with the Award of Merit and accompanying title of fellow in 2001, the Patrick G. Laing Award in 1996 and the Leroy Wyman Award in 1992. He has received awards from other organizations as well.
Parr’s standards work also includes his involvement with the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 150 on Surgical Implants. Author or co-author of numerous publications related to his work, Parr has given many invited presentations and holds more than a dozen patents.
As chairman and CEO of Extremity Innovations, Parr is leading work on developing and manufacturing medical devices and treatments for the foot and hand markets; at Medical Technology Development he heads a consulting company that helps large and small firms focus on product placement and development. From 1993 to 2004, Parr had been executive vice president and chief scientific officer for Wright Medical Technology, where he was responsible for new business development and involved with the research direction and product development programs as well as engineering, regulatory and clinical activities. From 1979 to 1993, Parr held positions at Zimmer, a division of Bristol-Myers Squibb, most recently as vice president of research.
In addition to ASTM International, Parr is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Association, the National Association of Spine Surgeons, the Orthopaedic Research Society, Sigma Xi and the Society for Biomaterials, among other scientific organizations. He is also listed in American Men of Science.
Parr has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from West Virginia University and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Purdue University.
ASTM International is one of the largest international standards development and delivery systems in the world. ASTM International meets the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles for the development of international standards: coherence, consensus, development dimension, effectiveness, impartiality, openness, relevance and transparency. ASTM standards are accepted and used in research and development, product testing, quality systems and commercial transactions.
View this release on the ASTM Web site at www.astmnewsroom.org.
ASTM PR Contact: Erin K. Brennan, Phone: 610-832-9602; ebrennan@astm.org
