In 1999, the
BC Alumni Association bestowed the Award of
Excellence for Health Professionals upon Dr.
Robert T.M.
Phillips.
In honor of Black History Month,
The Heights is profiling African American alumni who
have risen to prominent positions in their respective
fields. Dr. Phillips is a well-known and experienced
forensic psychiatrist. He graduated from BC in 1972.
Dr. Robert T.M. Phillips, BC '72,
graduated from Boston College in three years with a
Bachelor of Science degree cum laude in Biology and
Psychology. Dr. Phillips was born in New York City where
he attended Jesuit schools from kindergarten through
college. Dr. Phillips is presently a forensic
psychiatrist and the medical director for the private
firm Forensic Consultation Associates, Inc., which
specializes in psychiatric consultations for national
civil and criminal litigation. He is also an adjunct
associate professor of Psychiatry at the University of
Maryland Schools of Medicine and Law, a lecturer and
former assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry at the
Yale University School of Medicine and a lecturer and
former adjunct clinical professor of correctional mental
health at New York Medical College Graduate School of
Health Sciences.
Phillips has appeared on many
television programs such as 60 Minutes, NBC News, ABC
News, Oprah and Burden of Proof. Since 1996 he has also
been the consulting psychiatrist for Protective
Intelligence of the Secret Service, which investigates
threats against the president of the United States. He
is also a special consultant to Jack Valenti, president
of the Motion Picture Association of America, on issues
of television parental guidelines.
Phillips
attended BC during an interesting time in the
University's history. The years 1969 to 1972 were a time
of intense radicalism and awareness of the need for
social change. As vice president of UGBC and an active
member of Black Talent – a precursor to AHANA programs
that attempted to diversify Boston College – Dr.
Phillips was in the center of important changes at BC.
At the time, BC was admitting a heightened number of
minority students through programs like Black Talent and
even turned Fenwick into an African-American dorm, where
Phillips lived for one year.
Phillips said "the
administration embodied what you'd expect from a Jesuit
institution," and that BC administrators created a
"nurturing environment." In regards to students at the
time, Phillips explained that some students made campus
"quite foreign" and "hostile" at times for minority
students. Phillips believed this was mostly due to
ignorance, as many students were not used to students of
color.
From BC, Phillips attended Harvard
University, where he obtained his master's in Education
with a concentration in administration planning and
public psychiatry. He then attended Tufts University
Medical School for advanced graduate studies, while at
the same time participating in a Health Internship
Program with the NAACP. In 1975, Phillips attended the
University of Iowa Science Education Center to work
toward his PhD. During his years at Iowa, he also worked
toward his M.D. at the Mayo Medical School. By doing so,
Phillips completed his PhD and M.D. within one week of
each other.
Phillips had multiple internships in
the medical field after finishing his M.D. He held an
internship at the Harlem Hospital Medical Center and a
sub-internship at the Sloan Hospital for Women at
Columbia University and Bellevue Hospital at the New
York University School of Medicine. He later completed
his internship training at the Mayo Clinic and his
residency in psychiatry at the Yale University School of
Medicine. While at Yale, he was also the chief resident
of Psychiatry.
After completing his residency at
Yale, Phillips became the director of forensic services
for the Connecticut Department of Health. From 1986 to
1993, he acted as the chief executive officer of the
Whiting Forensic Institute, the only maximum-security
hospital in Connecticut. From 1993 to 1997, Dr. Phillips
was the deputy medical director of the American
Psychiatric Association in the Nation's capital. While
at the APA, he was director of the APA Offices on
Psychiatric Services, Minority and National Affairs and
was clinical director of the Office of Economic Affairs
and Practice Management.
In 1998, Phillips went
into private practice as medical director of Forensic
Consulting Associates, Inc. In 1999, Phillips received
the Award of Excellence in Health Professions from the
Boston College Alumni Association for his illustrious
career as a psychiatrist.
On reflecting back on
his career at Boston College, Phillips described it as
an "intense cultural experience." He is proud that BC
still tries to make it financially possible for students
to go here through financial aid and grants. Phillips
said that without this aid when he was a student, he
would probably not have been able to attend BC.
"Boston College has committed themselves to
giving kids a chance," said Phillips. "Without it, you'd
have a homogeneous culture."
Without his Boston
College experience and education, Dr. Robert T. M.
Phillips could not see how he would have been able to
attend Harvard to continue his academic career towards
an M.D. Phillips said he believes that "Boston College
was an important brick in the foundation of my academic
and social development."
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