Marshall Miller Parks

Marshall Miller Parks (July 6, 1918 – July 25, 2005) was an American ophthalmologist known to many as "the father of pediatric ophthalmology".

Early life Parks was born in Old Mission, Michigan to Ruth E. and Reuben Elvin Parks. In 1939, he earned a BS from Illinois College and in 1943 graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. During World War II, Parks served as a medical officer on destroyers in the United States Navy,

Professional career Parks studied under the guidance of Frank D. Costenbader, the first ophthalmologist to dedicate his practice solely to the care of children. At Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C., now known as the Children's National Medical Center, they began the first ophthalmology fellowship training program of any subspecialty. This evolved from the rotation of Heed Fellowship ophthalmologists who had trained with Costenbader for many years. Description and refinement of numerous eye muscle surgical techniques, particularly the fornix incision approach to strabismus surgery Recognition of the benefits of very early strabismus correction (by age 1 year) Innovation in surgical techniques for pediatric cataracts

Positions From 1974 to 1975, Parks was the first president of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, a professional association of which he was a founding member. In 1982, he was president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Family life Parks and his late wife, Angeline Miller Parks, raised eleven children. Following the death of his first wife, Parks and Martha McSteen Parks married and resided in Washington, D.C. for 14 years prior to his death. He is a devout Catholic.