Dr. Allan M. Parnell, who served for 13 years as the longest-serving chairman of the Lindsey Wilson College Board of Trustees, announced he is stepping down as board chair at the Oct. 25 fall board meeting. The Adair County native will remain a college trustee.
“It’s been a great honor for me to have served in this capacity,” said Parnell. “I love Lindsey Wilson, I love what it stands for. It’s the best thing that has ever happened to Columbia and Adair County.”
Parnell joined the Lindsey Wilson College Board of Trustees in 2003 and has used his business expertise to assist the board’s efforts to support and expand the college. He was named board chair in 2011. Parnell is the longest-serving chairman of the Board of Trustees in Lindsey Wilson’s history.
“The college has performed remarkably well under Mr. P’s guidance, and he leaves at a time when the college has never been stronger,” said LWC President William T. Luckey Jr. “Mr. P made it clear he has never been more committed to the college and its mission. In fact, he will continue to serve as a key member of our board of trustees but thought someone else should experience the joy of leading this enterprise.”
Denny Howell of Louisville, a member of the LWC Board of Trustees since 2008, has been named the new chairman of the LWC Board of Trustees. He will preside over his first board meeting in spring 2025.
Thanks to Parnell’s bold leadership and visionary risk-taking during his 13 years as board chair, Lindsey Wilson has:
–experienced record-breaking enrollment, topping 4,000 students for the first time in school history;
– increased the Lindsey Wilson Endowment by more than $39 million to more than $51 million;
– increased its operating budget by 75%, from $46 million to nearly $80 million;
– increased net assets by more than $83 million;
– and initiated the All In for LWC, 48-Hour Chair’s Challenge; since it was started in 2014, the alumni and friends fundraising campaign has raised more than $7 million for scholarship support.
In honor of the generosity and deep commitment of Parnell, his wife, Dr. Bunny Parnell, and their family to their community and to the Lindsey Wilson mission, the college’s Blue Raider Football Stadium was renamed Parnell Family Stadium in 2021. Parnell was honored with a life-size, bronze sculpture outside of the stadium entrance to commemorate his service as chairman of the LWC Board of Trustees and as college benefactor.
From Adair County to Mister ‘P’
One of seven children, Parnell grew up 10 miles south of the LWC campus in a home without electricity or running water. He spent eight years in a one-room schoolhouse before attending Adair County High School, where he was a member of its first graduating class in 1954.
“I’m from Adair County and proudly so. I tell people wherever I go that I am from Columbia, Kentucky, the home of Lindsey Wilson College,” said Parnell. “I also have a deep love for this community. Sometimes I think we overlook Lindsey Wilson’s economic impact on Adair County. We should all be glad that this college is located here.”
Parnell moved to Louisville in the 1960s where he spent more than 17 years working at General Electric Co.’s Appliance Park. He attended GE’s legendary three-year management training program.
In 1987, he founded the truckload contract carrier company Mister “P” Express. What began with three leased trucks grew to include more than 200 trucks and more than 300 employees. The Parnells’ daughter Cindy Collier, a LWC graduate, currently serves as the company’s president and chief executive officer.
“I do believe in the power of prayer, sometimes we take the rough way in life and there’s an easier way to do it,” said Parnell, who at 89 years old continues to go into the office every day. “We should all strive to live a good life. I give the Lord the credit for everything I have accomplished. We honor the Golden Rule at my company every day.”
‘I love Lindsey Wilson’
“It has been a great pleasure for me over these years to be a part of this institution,” said Parnell, who received an honorary doctorate from Lindsey Wilson in 2012. “As the Bible says, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And I’ve found out in life if I give generously, I receive.
“I can tell you that my wife, Bunny, and I love Lindsey Wilson College and we are going to continue to be a part of and support this college. Not only does Lindsey Wilson teach good ethics and embrace Christian principles, they teach the students how to look to tomorrow and be prepared for the future.”
Bunny received an honorary doctorate from LWC in 2019. The couple has three living daughters: Cindy (David) Collier, Merle (Jamie) Gipe, and Kim (Ken) Davis. They also have seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
By Venus Popplewell
Lindsey Wilson College
