Spotlight on Laura Phillips

What is your educational background?

BS Chemistry from ACU (1988), MS Industrial Administration from Purdue (1989), and PhD Organization and Management from Capella (2005).

What is your work background?

I worked as a Financial analyst at Eli Lilly and Company (1989-1993) and then with the Franklin Church of Christ, part-time (1997-2001).

What do you teach at ACU?

Business Statistics and Social Entrepreneurship.

What committees/other duties do you have at ACU aside from teaching?

I serve as the NCAA Faculty Athletic Rep for ACU and Mark and I are the Faculty-in-residence at McDonald Hall.

What drew you to teaching? Why did you want to work with students?

I didn’t originally know that’s what I wanted to do. My plan when I went to get my PhD was to do nonprofit consulting when I graduated. A faculty position opened up, somewhat suddenly, in COBA about the time I was finishing up my degree, and I decided to try teaching. I started teaching one week after I defended my dissertation.

What’s the best part of working with students?

I enjoy watching the students work through the college process: learning to balance work/school/fun, trying to decide what to do after college, learning new things in the classroom, engaging in new experiences, taking on leadership roles, etc.

Outside of teaching, what passions and hobbies do you have?

Traveling, cycling, hiking, kayaking, trying new things, cooking, working out, being outside, collecting hobbies.

What is a good, early story about your teaching?

I started teaching one week after finishing my PhD. I had three sections, two different preps, and I had never taught before. I was exactly one week ahead of the students in the book. Each week, I would read the chapter (for each class) to see what we were supposed to cover the next week. I had inherited a Tuesday/Thursday teaching schedule so my classes were an hour and twenty minutes long. There was NO WAY I could teach for that long all at once (I have no problem with that now!), so we had an intermission every day in the middle of class. Sometimes I had other faculty come in. I remember Jonathan Stewart coming in and playing a Bon Jovi song on his guitar.

Do you do any charity or non-profit work?

Not in the way you are probably asking, but I work with a number of nonprofit organizations through the social entrepreneurship class as well as through the global entrepreneurship class we’ll be teaching in Central America this summer. Also, much of my research is related to nonprofit work, so I interact with and support organizations through that.

Who is your role model, and why?

Maybe Pat Cranfill because I so admire the way she’s invested herself in the work with refugees who have been placed in Abilene. She is a regular person who is making an extraordinary difference right where she lives.

Who was your most inspirational professor and why?

Probably Eric Hardegree (Physical Chemistry). It was one of the hardest classes I had. He expected a lot in both the class and the lab (which met on Friday afternoons from 1-5pm for an entire year!), but he was also reasonable and willing to help us understand the topic.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

Superfast grading because that would free up so much time for more engaging activities. (Insert smiley face here.)

What is something that students might be surprised to find out about you?

I don’t know. I feel like I’m pretty transparent. Perhaps that I’m really clumsy or that I’m a pretty extreme introvert.

What would you really want students and alums to know about you?

That I teach just because I want to. I wouldn’t do it for free (because it’s VERY time consuming), but I feel that I am lucky to have a job that’s basically a paid hobby.