Investiture Ceremony of Dr. Rhonda Phillips

Dear Chatham Faculty, Staff, Students and Friends,

The Board of Trustees of Chatham University requests the honor of your presence of the investiture of Dr. Rhonda Phillips as the twentieth president of the university. Please join the celebration and welcome Dr. Phillips to Chatham University.

On April 18, 2023, the Chatham University Board of Trustees named Purdue University Honors College Dean Dr. Rhonda Phillips as Chatham’s 20th president. Phillips is the 10th woman to hold the presidency in Chatham’s 154-year history.

Dr. Phillips has more than 30 years’ experience as an innovative academic administrator, scholar, and author. She joined Chatham following completion of her decade-long role as the inaugural Dean of the John Martinson Honors College at Purdue University, an innovative 3,000 student residential honors college that under her leadership was named one of the Top 20 Honors Colleges in the U.S.

Prior to her role at Purdue, she was Associate Dean for Barrett, The Honors College, at Arizona State University, where she also served as professor and director of the School of Community Resources and Development, and Senior Sustainability Scientist at the Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. She has held faculty and administrator roles at the University of Florida and the University of Southern Mississippi, and prior to joining academia, Phillips worked as an economic developer with the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and other nonprofit, private and public organizations.

Dr. Phillips has a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning and an MS in Economics from Georgia Tech, as well as an MS in Economic Development from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree. She is a three-time Fulbright recipient including serving as the 2006 Fulbright UK Ulster Policy Fellow in Northern Ireland. She is the author or editor of over 30 academic books, including the textbook, Introduction to Community Development, used by students and practitioners around the world. Dr. Phillips’ research focuses on community and sustainable well-being studies, economic and technology-based development, and making the places we live better for all. She has a passion for the classroom and continued teaching at Purdue where she served as a Professor in the Agricultural Economics Department and faculty liaison with local food system development. Dr. Phillips will also be a member of Chatham’s teaching faculty.