Tim Phillips ’79 Enters DTD Hall of Fame
Tim Phillips ’79 Enters DTD Hall of Fame
Tim Phillips ’79 was recently inducted into Delta Tau Delta at Penn State’s Hall of Fame. As an undergraduate, he was the first house manager with the reinstallation of Chapter in 1978 and served in that role until the end of the spring 1979 term. Brother Phillips also served as the Guide as part of the Ritual ceremony for two semesters. Continuing his support after graduation, Tim served on the Tau Board from 1999 to 2005 and was the chairman for the Strengthening the Bond Capital Campaign from 2003 to 2006. In recognition of this honor, we take a look into Tim’s career, family, and his outlook on the fraternity:
About his career…
I’ve worked for Mellon Bank—now Bank of New York Mellon—for 29 plus years. I have actually had four different careers within the bank—but with our move from Pittsburgh to Charlotte, I am currently a business development officer within the cash management business line.
The family…
My wife Susan and I have been married for 27 years and we have three children: Matt, 24, Jon, 22, and Katie, 20. As our children were growing up I coached baseball, soccer and helped with the North Allegheny club lacrosse program. At this point, I am traveling about 65% of the time—so we are pretty busy with working and staying in touch with our children who are spread across the country. Matt, a Penn State graduate, joined the Bank of New York Mellon in February working in the asset servicing business. Jon has just finished his junior year at Florida State majoring in economics. Katie has just begun her junior year in the nursing program at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
Three years ago my wife and I decided to change our lives and we moved from Pittsburgh to North Carolina after our children were off on their own adventures in college. We loved Pittsburgh and it was a great place to raise a family, but most of my family lives near Greensboro, North Carolina. So in April 2005, we purchased a home near Denver, North Carolina on Lake Norman. In late 2006, Susan took a position at Wachovia in downtown Charlotte and is enjoying her own career in banking.
On the fraternity…
Having served on the board through some difficult times when the chapter had shrunk to 14 members back in 2000 — it is refreshing and exciting to see 70 plus active Brothers and a full house. Serving on the Board, it was frustrating at times to listen to the criticism and negative reflections of our alumni who had returned for Homecoming and other events. The comments from these individuals were totally accurate and reasonable statements — the Shelter was messy, dirty and the undergrads don’t take care of our home, etc. What most folks miss is the positive progress that the chapter has made over the last ten years. Jim King has done a marvelous job as President and his perseverance and willingness to stay the course with energy and excitement has amazed me. Jim and the Board have had that same challenge — year after year of retraining the undergrads, reminding them of their commitments, dealing with a new President and group of officers and attempting to manage a situation that is impossible to manage. The challenge is daunting and requires an incredible amount of energy and commitment. Now that the mantle has been passed to John Thorsen, I hope the alumni continue to support the Board and Chapter and continue to improve our home and place at Penn State.