Recipient of the 2016-17 Dartmouth Alumni Award
The son of an MIT grad, as a young man you had an engineering orientation combined with an interest in business. Happily for us, you “fell in love at first sight” when you arrived on Dartmouth’s campus for a visit in the summer of 1955. Little did you realize when you left your hometown of Rochester, NY, how much Dartmouth would come to mean to you over the years.
Your freshman trip proved a memorable launch to your Dartmouth career as you hiked from Holt’s Ledge to Moose Mountain in the rain. Once on campus, you plunged into a variety of activities. You played freshman soccer, served as manager of the cross-country team, joined Zeta Psi, and played some enjoyable rounds of golf at Hanover Country Club. You even recall helping to ice down the old Davis Rink during hockey games. An economics major, you earned a dual degree with the Tuck School of Business, where you pursued a finance curriculum. Your favorite professors included Louis Foster, Len Morrison and Ken Davis, and an academic highlight was the Great Issues course. It was also during this period that you married your wonderful wife, Mary Lou.
Upon graduation, you were commissioned into the U.S. Army’s Medical Service Corps and worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Your career path led you to roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers and then Citibank, where you eventually retired as head of the company’s power industry. Those years spent financing the electric power industry and traveling the world made for an exciting career in banking.
Despite a very demanding work schedule, Dartmouth was always close to your heart. You are so proud to have been part of the College community, which you feel prepared you for professional and personal success, and count yourself in awe of those alumni with whom you have associated for over 50 years. You began volunteering shortly after graduation, and the list of roles of you have played is truly impressive. You have served as a class agent, head agent, leadership chair, class treasurer, class president, alumni councilor, gift planning chair (twice), and as co-chair of your 50th Reunion Giving Committee, with which you set a Reunion fundraising record.
At the suggestion of a classmate, you helped orchestrate the first class birthday party for the Class of 1960’s 50th. With 200 attendees the event was a great success, and this delightful tradition has continued – you recently celebrated your 75th class birthday in Seattle. You’ve been an integral part of the Class of 1960’s many years of year-end giving records, and a member of the “SWAT” team, a group of eight volunteers focused on the class participation goal. With your guidance and encouragement, the number of Bartlett Tower Society (BTS) members in your class has almost tripled, and the ’60s hold the all-time record of BTS members in a given class.
Your communities have also benefitted from your time and talent. An active member of the Chatham, N.J. United Methodist Church, you also volunteered for the Chatham YMCA and as a coach for recreational sports teams. Your graduating class from John Marshall High School remains close-knit, and you chaired your 50th reunion and recently attended your 60th. At your Florida retirement community, Harbour Ridge, you served on the board and chaired the finance committee during a major construction and renovation project.
Through all the years Mary Lou has been practically a member of your class, a tremendous companion at Dartmouth events, class birthday parties, and Homecoming. You are blessed with two fabulous daughters, Catherine and Jennifer.
Phil, we are extraordinarily grateful for your lifetime of service and dedication to Dartmouth and in particular to the great class of 1960. We are deeply honored to present you with the Dartmouth Alumni Award.