Dr. Tracy Parkinson serves as Provost & Dean of the College at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina. He came to Coker in 2011 from King University in Bristol, Tenn., where he most recently held the position of associate vice president for Academic Affairs. As a faculty member, he earned the rank of full professor and taught courses in French, Francophone, Spanish language and literature, as well as courses in language acquisition theory and earned the rank of professor of Languages and Literatures. He was also twice elected a faculty lecturer at King, the highest honor given teaching faculty at the college.
Tracy holds a B.A. from Carson-Newman College, an M.A. in French and Francophone Studies from the University of Tennessee, and Ph.D. in Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures from the University of Tennessee. He also completed studies at the American University of Paris and certificates from Cornell University and the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain).
He serves on the board of directors of the TEACH Foundation, which administers a $5 million grant to support education initiatives in Hartsville, as well as on the board of the United Way of Hartsville. He was honored as the 2009 Outstanding Young Alumnus by Carson-Newman College. In 2010-11, he was elected chair of the Deans? Council of the Appalachian College Association, a consortium of 36 private colleges in five states. He recently completed the year-long Chief Academic Officers? Institute of the American Council on Education, as well as the Colloquium for CAOs of the Council of Independent Colleges. He has been a guest speaker at Ferrum College, Emory and Henry College, Davis and Elkins College, the Salzburg Global Seminar, and Mars Hill College, where he delivered the 2011 Opening Convocation Address, and the CAO Institute of the Council of Independent Colleges.