Biochemistry Professor Retires After 34 Years at the University

27 March 2001 -- Allen Phillips, professor emeritus of biochemistry, has retired from the Eberly College of Science after 34 years at Penn State.

His research focuses on nitrogen metabolism, primarily the enzymes used in amino-acid breakdown by microorganisms. One area of his extensive investigation is the enzymology of histidine metabolism, as well as the genes involved and the regulation of their expression. He also collaborated on research concerning enzymes responsible for ethylene production in plants. In addition, he was a contributor to NASA Space Shuttle Mission STS-60 in 1994 with an experiment to evaluate the impact of a zero-gravity environment on induced gene expression.

Phillips has written one textbook about general biochemistry and numerous book chapters, and has authored or coauthored dozens of articles published in scientific journals. He served as an editor for the Journal of Bacteriology and was a member of that journal's editorial board and a member of the editorial board of Applied and Environmental Microbiology for many years. He was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 1993.

Along with his productive research efforts, Phillips also taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in biochemistry and microbiology at Penn State. He was associate department head for the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 1984 to 1987 and was acting head in 1986. He has worked on numerous committees and groups at all levels of the University. He served as a member of the University Isotopes Committee, and has been the group's chair since 1989. He also served on Graduate Council, the University Faculty Senate, and on the University Promotion and Tenure Committee. He served as faculty advisor to the Biochemistry Society from 1982 to 2001. He has trained numerous doctoral-degree candidates, master's candidates, and post-doctoral scholars.

Prior to joining Penn State in 1967, Phillips was an assistant professor at Louisiana State University. He was promoted to professor at Penn State in 1971, and served as a visiting professor at Stanford University in 1992, a visiting professor at Purdue University in 1982, and a visiting scientist for the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1974.

Phillips earned his doctoral degree in biochemistry at Michigan State University in 1964. He earned his master's and bachelor's degrees, also in biochemistry, at Louisiana State University in 1961 and 1960, respectively. In 1984, he received the Boezi Outstanding Alumnus Award from Michigan State University.

He and his wife, Elizabeth, have been married since 1961. They have two children— Andrew, a professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire; and Margaret, a contrabassoonist with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and several other orchestras in New England.