��������

An advocate for academic excellence and holistic student learning, President Phipps is an accessible leader who builds shared vision and authentic relationships with colleagues and students, and fosters a strong, nurturing academic community as a result. As president, she demonstrates Messiah University’s commitment to civic engagement by serving on numerous regional and national boards, including the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and the Council of Independent Colleges.

During her tenure at Messiah she has led many significant institutional initiatives including: the implementation of a School of Graduate Studies, initiation of the undergraduate core course, “Created and Called for Community,” the successful completion of four major fundraising campaigns totaling $106 million, and the increase of the University’s visibility throughout the region and the nation.

Given the comprehensive nature of Messiah’s undergraduate curriculum and the expansion of our graduate school to include two doctoral level programs, the University’s board of trustees, in October 2018, unanimously approved the move to university status as of July 1, 2020. President Phipps will lead the University Implementation Team towards this historic milestone.

President Phipps is a native of Long Island, New York. She and her husband, D. Kelly Phipps, J.D., have an adult daughter, Brooke, who is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Maryland.

Educational and professional background

President Phipps has researched and authored numerous publications related to the structure, rhetoric, and climate of higher education; the development of educational community; faculty development and identity; gender and diversity communication issues; and the complexities and nuances of religion and American political campaign rhetoric. President Phipps has spoken nationally at numerous conferences on the topic of developing hospitable campus climates.

Before coming to Messiah, she served in a variety of leadership roles at Malone College in Canton, Ohio, including professor and chair of the department of communication arts, acting dean of the college, and associate dean for faculty development.