MA08 44-53 First R2.qcd 3/3/08 11:49 AM Page 53
something in two years. It’s looking a lot
less intimidating than it once was.”
dents must be business majors; others are
studying political science, chemistry, Spanish, biology and math.
The giver
tute of Technology. He sponsored a successful symposium in Chapel Hill on business relationships between the U.S. and
Southeast Asia.
Phil Phillips ’62 understands the allure
of the European cultural experience to the
study abroad program. He already was a
world traveler in the 1950s, before he went
to college.
And he became convinced both his
children should see Asia — should understand how hot it was economically and the
different ways of doing business that had
frustrated his clients.
After school, he found himself looking
farther east. As the head of First Factors
Corp. in his hometown of High Point,
many of Phillips’ clients were furniture and
textile manufacturers. He had seen how
difficult it was for some Americans to do
business in Asia, and he’d been thinking
about ways to smooth the path.
As Phillips, in his words, “was casting
around for years trying to figure out how
to make an impact on undergraduates,” he
again looked east. “It made a lot of sense to
me to get this University and its students
thinking about study abroad, particularly
other than Europe.”
Phillips said they must be strong academically, but that he also wanted “those
who have a curiosity and want to tackle
some tough parts of the world, and who
can come back and explain and share the
Asian experience.” They are required, for
instance, to go back to their high schools
and talk about their studies.
The endowment he created will provide
up to 50 scholarships a year for Asian study.
Eventually, Phillips said, he’d like to see
every undergraduate spend time studying
abroad.
When Phillips was a UNC trustee some
20 years ago, Jack Kasarda, director of the
Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise,
grabbed him after a meeting and said he
ought to see Thailand from the perspective
of the University’s fledgling business ties
there. Not long afterward, Phillips made a
sizable gift toward a research and faculty
exchange partnership between the Kenan-Flagler Business School and the Asian Insti-
Other donors have been attracted to the
idea of study abroad opportunities.
Among the major gifts to the Carolina
First Campaign are scholarships and professorships. Phillips endowed ambassadorships.
The first class of Phillips Ambassadors, 29
of them, began last summer studying for
one term in Asia — the largest number in
China, but also in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea,Vietnam and Japan. Chosen
from 115 applicants, one-fourth of the stu-
“You know what would be fun?” he
asked. “To have a passport application in the
admissions package each student gets.”
On the Web, the Carolina Covenant
is at www.unc.edu/carolinacovenant/;
www.chem.unc.edu/people/faculty/
ramseyjm/jmrgroup/; the Morton collection
blog is at www.lib.unc.edu/blogs/morton/;
and the Phillips Ambassadors are at
studyabroad.unc.edu/phillips/index.cfm.
When you purchase products that bear
UNC logos, please look for the "Officially
Licensed Collegiate Product" hologram. This
hologram assures that the product has been approved by
UNC and that a portion of its proceeds will be directed
toward University programs. Revenue generated through
the sale of UNC merchandise helps to fund both need-based and academic scholarships.
CAROLINA ALUMNI REVIEW
