Dr. Phillips, affectionately called Dr. Ruth relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina in 2008 from Baltimore, Maryland. She served as a Public Health Specialist and later as Assistant Director for Wellness Promotion at North Carolina A&T State University. There she developed programs and collaborated with national organizations such as the American Heart Association to broaden her reach and increase health awareness to diverse surrounding communities. As Executive Director of Student Health and Counseling Service at North Carolina Central University, Dr. Phillips has developed programs, partnered with national organizations, collaborated with fellow campus departments and student groups in an effort to effectuate positive change not only for students but faculty and staff regarding their overall well-being.
Dr. Ruth Gilliam Phillips
As an Adjunct Professor, teaching the UNIV1100 class to incoming freshman, she was able to be honest, transparent and funny as she prepared students with the necessary skills to become acclimated with college life, navigate their independence, move beyond a setback, how to have sex the right way (a titled presentation) and to just talk to one another. Dr. Ruth has taken her success, pain, epic fails, vulnerability and disappointments and transformed those experiences into crucial conversations, engaging those for whom she advocates to ensure them that they were always at the forefront of her mind and efforts. Dr. Ruth currently is the Executive Director for the Community Health Coalition in Durham N.C. In addition to her role at the Community Health Coalition, she serves on the Executive Committee for the African American Covid-19 Task Force, Chair of the American Heart Association Health Equity Task Force for the Triangle Area, the Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Governor’s Task Force, the American Heart Association Triangle Board, the American Cancer Society Central and Eastern Northern Carolina Board, the Diabetes Research Foundation Board, the American Cancer Society Advisory Board and Aging Well Durham Board. Dr. Phillips coined the acronym L.I.F.E. Listen, Investigate, Follow-up and Engage when it comes to serving the community as well as advocating for one’s own well-being.
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