George N. Parks

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George National Parks (b. 1953) is the Director of the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After graduating undergrad from West Chester University and getting his graduate degree from Northwestern University, Parks became director of the band in 1977 at the age of 24. He continued to build upon the band left by former director John Jenkins and made some additional changes, including transitioning from highstepping to rollstep marching. The first show the band performed under his direction was Rocky. Over the years, he has risen as one of the most respected and admired professors at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has brought the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band to new prominence. Through his efforts, the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band won the prestigious Sudler Trophy in 1998^{[citation needed]}, signifying its place as one of the best college marching bands in the nation's history. He has also written "The Dynamic Drum Major". This book is a Drum Majors guide to technique and leadership and is also used at his summer camp as a reference. His unusual middle name finds its origins in his parents fanatical patriotism.

In addition, he holds the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy every summer, which trains thousands of high school drum majors from across the United States. The Drum Major Academy at UMass (DMA) also holds a band leadership program and the Mobile Percussion Seminar. He is widely considered one of the foremost marching band instructors in the nation. It is also held at the Annual Bands Of America Summer Symposium, where hundreds of students attend every year.