[3] He became known as the "world's greatest oarsman", and at the end of the 1939 season, Burk was voted the James E. Sullivan Award as the country's outstanding amateur athlete.

Burk served as a PT boat commander in the Pacific in World War II.

On March 29, 1943, he was assigned to the Commander Motor Torpedo Squadron Twenty-One, Navy Yard, New York City for outfitting.

Parker represented the United States at the 1960 Summer Olympics in the single scull and later became the head coach for Harvard.

The Burk Cup, awarded annually to the winner of the rowing race between Penn and Northeastern, is named after him.