Friday, January 19, 2018
11:30 am
Krannert Auditorium
Krannert alumnus Roland Parrish (BSIM ’75, MSM ’76) is the president, CEO and owner of Parrish McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd., which owns 21 McDonald’s franchises with total revenues of more than $67 million annually. The average franchisee owns five restaurants.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) recently honored Parrish and his company with its 2017 Minority Business Enterprise of the Year award in recognition of his leadership, commitment and excellence in advancing the interests and the economic achievements of the minority business community.
Parrish also received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Dallas Business Journal at its 2017 Minority Business Leader Awards. The DBJ ranks Parrish’s company as the 9th-largest minority owned business in North Texas.
In addition to its recent honors, his company has been among Black Enterprise magazine’s BE 100 as one of the Top 100 Black Owned Businesses in the United States for 12 consecutive years. Parrish also serves the National Black McDonald’s Operators Association (NBMOA) as immediate past chair and CEO.
As a Purdue University student, Parrish was a four year letterman on the Purdue track and field team, serving as Captain his senior year and twice (1973 and 1974) was selected MVP by his teammates. Parrish was inducted into the Indiana Track and Cross Country Hall of Fame (IATCC) in January 2015.
A recipient of Krannert’s Business Leadership Award and the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurship Award, Parrish credits much of his success to his mentor, Dr. Cornell A. Bell., who served as the director of the Business Opportunity Program (BOP) for more than 37 years. The program was renamed in Bell’s honor in 1996 and celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2018.
Parrish’s philanthropic contributions include a $2 million gift to Purdue to renovate the former Management and Economics Library, which was dedicated in April 2012 as the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management and Economics. Parrish also supports Purdue athletics and the Krannert School, as well as funding a scholarship in Bell’s memory.
