Salus University is honoring Algernon Phillips, OD ‘69, MD, on the occasion of his passing on December 29, 2023.
Dr. Phillips was a Salus University Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) alum and a “trailblazer for PCO/Salus University’s commitment to global service”, Salus said.
He was the founder of PCO’s Student Optometric Service to Humanity (SOSH) chapter and planned their first humanitarian trip to Haiti after seeing the country’s need for vision care in 1968.
“I first met Dr. Phillips when I was a first-year student at PCO, and I was a part of the first trip to Haiti. What was clear to me as a student and as I continued attending the trips as a faculty member, was that Dr. Phillips remained committed to humanitarian work. He was a pioneer in his humanitarian efforts and interest in giving back,” said Susan “Dr. O” Oleszewski, OD ‘76, Resident ‘78, MA, FAAO, PCO/Salus professor emerita. “His legacy remains in those optometry students who are moved and touched by their humanitarian trip experiences.”
Dr. Phillips also established and funded the A.A. Phillips – SOSH Scholarship, awarded to a student from the former British West Indies or a non-U.S. citizen from the Caribbean.
After graduating from PCO, Dr. Phillips earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Howard University. In 1978, he founded Ophthalmic Service International, spearheading medical missions to Senegal, West Africa’s Ivory Coast, and the desert regions of Israel. He later served as a Clinical Instructor of Ophthalmology at the Veterans Administration Hospital in East Orange, New Jersey.
Dr. Phillips, his wife, Elois Rogers-Phillips, MD, and daughter, Adrienne A. Phillips MD, MPH, previously served as members of the University’s Board of Trustees.
If you would like to make a gift in memory of Dr. Phillips, you can donate online or forward your gift to the Office of Institutional Advancement, Salus University, 8360 Old York Road, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania 19027.
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Photo: Salus University