Ben H. Parker was associated with Colorado School of Mines over a thirty-year period: first as an undergraduate; later as a graduate student; then as a faculty member in the Geology Department; and finally as President of the School from 1946 to 1950. He served with distinction as a leader; showing vision and judgment by expanding the facilities for instruction to returning veterans and strengthening the finances of the institution.

His background in geology earned him a job at the Marland Oil Company shortly after his graduation. Parker worked at Marland for four years before moving to Gypsy Oil Company.

He engaged in mining and petroleum work before returning to CSM for graduate study at about the same time that James Boyd came to Golden. The two men formed an association which lasted a number of years. Parker left CSM to work in Argentina's oil fields, returning to become CSM's ninth president.

When Dr. Parker was President, Dr. Boyd was Dean of Faculty. The Parker-Boyd Endowed Student Development Fund was established to commemorate their friendship and continues to provide scholarships to undergraduate students at the School. Dean Boyd had scarcely undertaken his new duties when he was named by President Truman to become the Director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

Dr. Parker returned to serve Mines as President in 1946. In the four years of his administration the faculty at Mines increased from fifty-two to over one hundred, and the student body grew from six hundred to over twelve hundred. Coal mining and petroleum refining options were added to the curriculum. The Director of Admissions' office, the Department of Research and Development, and the Research Foundation were established.

The dollar value expended for new buildings, laboratory equipment and research facilities in Dr. Parker’s administration approached the total funds spent during the first seventy-one years of the school's existence. During his last year at Mines, the School commemorated seventy- five years of service in preparing leaders in engineering and the applied sciences.