During 2002-2003, Mr Lee Ranford, the former Director General of the Western Australian Department of Minerals and Energy, accepted an invitation to succeed Dr Don Philp as the Visitor to the Parker Centre.

Mr Ranford played a key role in the development of the minerals and energy sector in WA. He retired from the Department of Minerals and Energy (now the Department of Industry and Resources) in August 2002, ending a 43-year career which has spanned periods in the public and private sectors of the resources area with the WA and Commonwealth governments and international mining companies.