HOUSTON, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Parker Drilling Company (NYSE: PKD) today announced that Dr. Robert M. Gates has been elected to the company's Board of Directors. Dr. Gates' election fills the vacancy created by the April 2001 retirement from the Board of Dr. Earnest F. Gloyna.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010806/DAM028 )

"We're extremely pleased to add Dr. Gates to our Board of Directors," said Robert L. Parker Jr., president and chief executive officer. "With his international expertise I know he will provide excellent guidance for our global operations."

Dr. Gates served as Director of Central Intelligence from November 1991 to January 1993. In this position he led all foreign intelligence agencies of the United States and directed the Central Intelligence Agency. He is the only career officer in the history of the CIA to rise from entry-level employee to Director and the only intelligence analyst to become Director.

He joined the CIA in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional, serving six presidents. During that period he spent nearly nine years at the National Security Council, The White House, serving four presidents of both political parties.

Dr. Gates has been awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, has twice received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal and has three times received the CIA's highest award, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.

Dr. Gates served as Dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University from 1999-2001. He currently is a member of the board of trustees of The Fidelity Funds, and a member of the board of directors or TRW, Inc., and NACCO Industries. He also serves as senior adviser or consultant to several major international firms, and is a trustee of the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Boston and the Forum for International Policy, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting vigorous American international leadership. Dr. Gates is a member of the national executive board of the Boy Scouts of America and president of the National Eagle Scout Association. He lectures frequently in the U.S. and abroad.

A native of Kansas, Dr. Gates received his BA degree from the College of William and Mary, his Master's degree in history from Indiana University, and his Doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University. Dr. Gates is 57, married, and has two grown children.

Parker Drilling Company is a Houston-based global energy company specializing in offshore drilling and workover services in the Gulf of Mexico and international land and offshore drilling. Parker also operates Quail Tools, a provider of premium rental tools for oil and gas drilling. Parker Drilling has 79 marketed rigs and employs more than 3,500 people worldwide. For more information go to www.parkerdrilling.com .

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SOURCE Parker Drilling Company
Web site: http: //www.parkerdrilling.com
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CONTACT: media, Ron Whitmire, +1-832-252-2113, or investors, Chuck Sullivan +1-918-631-1238, both of Parker Drilling Company
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