He loved his time at the University. \u201cThe campus was really rocking in those days,\u201d he said. In 1976, Pitt\u2019s football team won the NCAA Division I National Championship. Parasida recalled the electric atmosphere on campus, which left an indelible mark on him.<\/p>\n
![\"Tony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/parasida-roc-boat.jpeg\")
\nParasida named his boat ROC after the Pittsburgh Panthers mascot.<\/p>\n
If the atmosphere was exciting, the academics challenged and inspired him. Benedum Hall, which opened in 1971, was a new building with impressive facilities. \u201cI remember the laboratories, where I got my first hands-on experience. I thought the laboratories were incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parasida remembered his first-year orientation, where the incoming engineers were told that only half of them would reach graduation. He was one of the students who earned a degree, and the first of his siblings to finish college.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father expected that I\u2019d go to work at the steel mills,\u201d Parasida said. \u201cIt\u2019s funny how that worked out. Pitt was the only school I applied to, and the rest was history.\u201d<\/p>\n
An opportunity to soar<\/p>\n
During Parasida\u2019s senior year, aircraft manufacturer Boeing visited the school during a recruiting fair. He was weighing two offers from other companies when the global aerospace giant reached out to him with a position, which he accepted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent a lot of time in Philadelphia and then St. Louis and Seattle, and then back to St. Louis, and Chicago,\u201d he said. \u201cI had many different jobs on a myriad of projects, doing everything from engineering, to engineering leadership, to general management.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pitt education prepared me for this. And coming from Pittsburgh, there\u2019s a work ethic of keeping your head down and doing a good job day in, day out, and good things will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1984, he began working on the V-22 Osprey<\/a>, a tiltrotor aircraft that takes off vertically and flies like an airplane. He started on the drawing board and left as the program manager. It would become his favorite project, one that taught him the virtues of patience and persistence.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes years to develop a new aircraft,\u201d Parasida said. \u201cYou go through a development program and a flight test program. You deal with issues that arise and then programs get cancelled and restarted. It takes so long to see your total result.\u201d<\/p>\n From the V-22 Osprey, Parasida worked as the program manager on the F\/A-18E Super Hornet<\/a> fighter jet. For his and his team\u2019s work, he received the U.S. Navy\u2019s prestigious 2004 \u201cNed Conger\u201d F\/A-18 Distinguished Service Award<\/a>, which recognizes \u201ccommitment and dedication to the success of the F\/A-18 Program.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Parasida was the first contractor and the first person from Boeing to receive the award. He credited his team and the profound responsibility that comes from collaborating with the Armed Forces. \u201cYou know that you\u2019re doing something that makes a difference for the men and women in uniform, a difference for the country,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n In 2013, after 35 years of engineering, managing, and leading projects and units across Boeing, Parasida moved into what would seem foreign territory: human resources. He began serving as Senior Vice President for Human Resources and Administration and joined Boeing\u2019s Executive Council.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t educated from a pure human resources standpoint. I wasn\u2019t an expert,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I knew to surround myself with great people and apply the same leadership principles I applied to all the projects I worked on.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking around corners<\/p>\n As a young design engineer, Parasida had developed a transmission deck for an aircraft. One day he got a call from the team building it with bad news. The deck was constructed with a hard material that caused damage when it was mounted.<\/p>\n \u201cI learned that you must look around the corner at all the repercussions of everything that you do,\u201d he said. \u201cI took that experience and have applied it to whatever I\u2019m doing in life, whether it\u2019s people or engineering or business related. Make sure you\u2019re not doing more harm than good based on secondary effects of whatever you\u2019re working on.\u201d<\/p>\n Parasida would go on to make more mistakes, of course. \u201cIf you\u2019re not making mistakes, you\u2019re not doing anything,\u201d he said. \u201cThe important thing is to learn from them.\u201d<\/p>\n Just as important was finding the right people. \u201cA big part of leadership is getting the right people together, people who are motivated and can work together.\u201d<\/p>\n Today when Parasida visits Benedum Hall, he is impressed with its evolution. Now 55 years old, the building has more labs and many new spaces designed for collaboration. \u201cThat\u2019s a good thing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe do such complex things. No one person designs an airplane. It\u2019s a team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Tony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/parasidadab.jpeg\")
\nParasida, center, with Michele Manuel and Vikas Khanna at the Distinguished Alumni Banquet in 2026. The Swanson School recognized Parasida as its top honoree.<\/p>\n
![\"Parasida's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/parasida-cart.jpeg\")