Robert Phillips

Robert Schaeffer Phillips (1938 – January 21, 2022) was an American poet and professor of English at the University of Houston. He was the author or editor of more than 30 volumes of poetry, fiction, poetry criticism and other works. Early life and education Phillips was born in Milford, Delaware in 1938 to Thomas Allen Phillips and Katheryn Schaeffer Phillips. He attended schools within the Milford School District. Phillips received B.A. (1960) and M.A. (1963) degrees double majoring in journalism and English literature from Syracuse University. Career After graduation, Phillips remained at Syracuse, taking a position as an Assistant Director of Admissions, which Phillips called his least interesting job because the students kept asking the same questions. He also taught English. He found an advertising job with Benton & Bowles in New York City in the 1960s and liked it because it combined his interest in writing, art, writing.). He worked on accounts for Revlon, Clearasil, and Ford Motor Company. He was a copywriter and vice president with Benton & Bowles, J. Walter Thompson and BBDO. He and his wife took a position in the Dusseldorf, Germany office of Grey Global Group, where he had opportunities to travel to places like Paris and London. Eventually he returned to New York and worked at several other agencies.