Phillips, senior associate dean and professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, was named national chair elect for the Association's Student Affairs-Minority Affairs Section (GSA-MAS) and also received the GSA-MAS Service Award.

"Dr. Phillips deserves recognition for the number of students he has impacted through his career, the strength and variety of minority programs he directs at Baylor and his national reputation as a leader in the field of medical education," said Dr. Ted Williams, an associate dean at South Florida College of Medicine. Williams nominated Phillips for the GSA-MAS Service Award.

Born in Sharon, Phillips graduated from Farrell Area High School.

He attended Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pa., on a combined football and academic scholarship, and earned an undergraduate degree.

Phillips received a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland. In 1958, he was the first African-American intern at the University Hospitals of Cleveland.

He spent two years at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Camp Pendleton, Calif., in the mid-'60s, then joined the Ohio Permanente Medical Group, Inc. This included 16 years as physician-in-chief and chief of staff at the Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center, Parma, Ohio.

In 1987, he entered academic medicine at Case Western, and served as associate dean for student affairs and minority programs and associate professor of pediatrics, until his relocation to Baylor in 1993.

He also served as the medical director of the Pediatric Family Clinic, at the Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Cleveland.

Programs which he completed include the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business, and the Leadership Cleveland Program sponsored by the Growth Association of Cleveland.

An expert in establishing cultural diversity in post-secondary institutions, he originated and then directed the Health Careers Enhancement Program for Minorities at Case Western the summers from 1988 through 1993. This is one of 11 programs, nationally funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a component of its Minority Medical Education Program.

Baylor, with Rice University, is also a participant in the MMEP, with its Honors/Premedical Academy, and Dr. Phillips is now giving his expertise to it. This six-week summer program prepares underrepresented minority college students from across the country for acceptance into and successful completion of medical school.

In addition to his administrative and educational responsibilities at Baylor, Phillips also served from 1993-1999, as the chairman of the Harris County Hospital District's Medical Board, which oversees care for the indigent of the county.

Some additional boards of trustees on which he serves are Bay Ridge Christian College, Kendleton, Texas, where he is chairman; Mid America Bible College, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Blaffer Art Gallery -- University of Houston; and the Hispanic Serving Health Professions Schools, Washington, D.C.

Phillips has served Washington and Jefferson as a member of the board of trustees and its executive committee from 1982-94, and was re-appointed to serve another term from 1995-2001.

He is a member of Texas Medical Association, American Medical Association, National Association of Medical Minority Educators, National Medical Association and Ambulatory Pediatric Association, and a fellow of American Academy of Pediatrics.

Phillips is a former member of Cleveland Medical Association, American Society of Human Genetics, Northern Ohio Pediatric Society, Ohio State Medical Association and Cleveland Academy of Medicine, and served from 1985 to 1993 as delegate to the Ohio State Medical Association representing the Cleveland Academy of Medicine and the Cuyahoga County Medical Society.