People who have known and worked with Parr describe him as “brilliant” and say his analytical skills and judgment are without peer. A former colleague of Parr’s at Morgan Stanley, where Parr headed up the global M&A group prior to joining Lazard, says that while Parr may not be as flashy as others in his field, he can “outthink most people he’s negotiating against.”

Tim Price, a managing director at Cerberus Capital who worked with Lazard during his company’s complex $14 billion acquisition of a controlling stake in G.M.A.C. in 2006, says Parr is supremely persuasive and savvy.

“He’s seen every kind of deal that there is, so he’s able to anticipate potential problems and help steer around them before there’s a surprise,” says Price.

Parr left Morgan Stanley to join Lazard in 2003, in part, he says, because Lazard offered an opportunity to work at a smaller firm that allowed closer relationships with clients. Prior to working at Morgan Stanley, Parr was co-president of boutique investment bank Wasserstein Perella, and before that, head of M&A at First Boston, where he first worked with Bruce Wasserstein, now Lazard’s C.E.O. (At the time of his hiring at Lazard, Wasserstein called Parr “one of the world’s outstanding investment bankers.”)

While unable to comment on current deals in the works, Parr says he expects even more infusions of capital in the next few weeks as financial institutions close the books on 2007 and are forced to recognize losses.

That these infusions are coming from foreign-run sovereign wealth funds is neither surprising nor worrisome to Parr, since these funds have the capital—by some estimates, they control a whopping $2.5 trillion in funds—and are motivated to invest in what they see as high-quality U.S. companies.

“Thank goodness the investors are there,” says Parr. “The firms that have taken these sizeable losses thus far needed new capital, so they needed to get it somewhere. Absent the sovereign wealth funds, it’s not at all clear they could raise the money.”

Some lawmakers and others have cited national security concerns about these funds, worried that their stakes might allow them to exercise undue influence on the U.S. economy and government policy. But Parr is dismissive of these worries.

“I would dare say the financial system in the U.S. would be weaker than it is today if there hadn’t been the ability to raise capital,” Parr says, adding that “I’ve not seen any evidence for reason for concern.”

Away from work, Parr serves as chairman of the Parr Center for Ethics at the University of North Carolina, which sponsors research, teaching, and discussion of ethical issues important to the university and the communities it serves. Parr attended college at U.N.C., and he established the Parr Center in 2004 with a grant from his family foundation.

He also serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including that of the Venetian Heritage, whose mission is to preserve Venetian art and architecture in Venice and other areas that were once part of the Venetian empire.

Parr says he continues to enjoy his job despite its grueling hours and extended travel, even though he had once envisioned himself retiring early.

“I’m fully engaged,” Parr says. “Tumultuous times are fascinating, and the last few months have been one of those periods.”