Grandfather, esteemed Harvey Mudd College engineering professor

John Richard (Rich) Phillips, born on January 30, 1934, in Albany California, died July 25 in Claremont. On the day Rich was born, because it was also the birthday of then President Franklin Roosevelt, his picture was in the local paper. “Rich joked that he never again attained such fame!” his family shared.

Rich grew up in Berkeley, graduated from Berkeley High School in 1951, and then went across the street to attend the University of California. At Cal, he majored in chemical engineering and was a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. In those days, all males attending a land grant university were required to spend two years in an ROTC program. He was initially in the Air Force ROTC, but to his disappointment wasn’t able to continue because he failed the eye exam. He graduated from Cal in January 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve Chemical Corps.

He spent the next four and a half years at Yale University, earning a Doctor of Engineering degree in chemical engineering. On March 23, 1957, he married a Cal classmate, Joan Soyster, of San Marino, California. While at Yale, he was promoted to first lieutenant.

After leaving Yale in 1960, he worked briefly as a chemical engineer at Stanford Research Institute, but soon left to spend the next two years with the Army at Fort McClellan near Anniston, Alabama. “There, he was an analyst at the Chemical Biological Radiation Combat Developments Agency, which he found ethically conflicting,” his family added. “Happily, his and Joan’s first daughter, Elizabeth Huntley, was born at Fort McClellan in 1962, total cost: $7!   In Alabama they were shocked by the terrible level of racism they observed. During their time at Fort McClellan the civil rights movement was gaining momentum, and the first freedom riders bus was burned in Anniston. The Birmingham airport’s restrooms were integrated while Joan and Rich were away on Christmas leave.”

After discharge from the service as a captain, he spent four years at Chevron Research in Richmond, California. While there, the couple’s second daughter, Sarah Rengel, was born. In 1966 the family moved to Claremont, where he joined the engineering department of Harvey Mudd College as an assistant professor. The family’s third daughter Catherine (Kate) Hale was born that summer. He would remain a member of the HMC faculty until his retirement as the Kindleberger Professor of Engineering in 2002.

“While at Harvey Mudd, Rich was a visionary educator,” his family said. He served as director of the engineering clinic for 17 years, expanding and strengthening the program, establishing it as a national model for experiential learning. He was also an early champion of women in engineering, at a time when there were few in the field.

During his time at Harvey Mudd, the family was able to take a number of sabbaticals; he was a visiting professor at Edinburgh University, Cambridge University, ESIEE in Paris, Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, Cal Poly University San Luis Obispo, Canterbury University, New Zealand, and Smith College North Hampton, Massachusetts.

He was also the author or co-author of some 45 journal articles, and refereed conference proceedings and invited papers on engineering research and engineering education. He held three U.S. patents on desalination and energy. Over the years, he served as a consultant to Aerojet General, Cypress Mines Corp., Occidental Research, Kaiser Steel, U.S. Dept. of Energy, and Southern California Edison.

In 1973, he founded Claremont Engineering, Inc, whose primary contract was the environmental impact study for Occidental Oil Shale’s operation near Grand Junction, Colorado.

In 2012, he was one of three Harvey Mudd Engineering Professors to be awarded the National Academy of Engineering’s Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering Education, the highest national honor for engineering education.

He loved swimming in the ocean and pool, playing and watching tennis, and family trips to Cambria and South Lake Tahoe, where the extended Phillips family gathered every summer in the cabin his father built in 1958. “He was a man of principle, and a steadfast husband and father, noted for his honesty and egalitarian views,” his family said. “He loved conversation and found great joy in evening gatherings over a glass of wine or a dry martini.” He was devoted to the Catholic Church. He was a longtime member of Rotary, and active throughout his life in his high school and college alumni groups.

He is survived by Joan, his wife of 68 years; his daughters and their spouses, Liz of Ann Arbor, Michigan (Tom), Sarah of Portland, Oregon, (David), and Kate of Burlingame, California; and grandchildren Sophie Buchmueller, Adam Buchmueller, Sam Ross, Jon Ross, and Alex Friedman. He is also survived by his sisters and their families, Lorna Mornin, Diane Nico, and Christine Rozance. He was predeceased by his parents, Adele and Eric Phillips.

A memorial Mass is planned for 10 a.m. Sunday, August 3 at McAlister Center, Claremont Colleges, 919 N. Columbia Ave, Claremont, CA 91711.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his honor to Harvey Mudd College’ Department of Engineering at givecampus.com/campaigns/51647/donations/new.