Mr Courtney John "Ned" Williams, the first Chair of the Parker Centre Board, was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on 26 January 2003. He received this honour for service to the Australian mining and metallurgical industries, particularly as a leader in the development of suspension smelting of non-ferrous metals.

Mr Ned Williams AM has had a long association with non-ferrous metal extraction and processes. He spent the first 30 years of his working life in the copper industry and then moved into the nickel industry in 1971 when he became the first Manager of Western Mining's Kalgoorlie nickel smelter. He subsequently worked for Western Mining as Deputy Manager of its Nickel Division and later on as Group Consultant - Processing.

He was Chair of the Board of Management of the Parker Centre from July 1992 to October 1995.