Dr. Neal Phillips

Professor of English

Neal Richard Phillips, Ed.D., has been teaching with Valencia College since 2001. He earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Central Florida in 2008, and he obtained both a bachelor's in English and a master's in Secondary Education from Duquesne University. Professor Phillips specializes in ENC 1101 and 1102 courses whether face-to-face, hybrid, or online exclusive. He has studied Shakespeare at both Rollins College and the New Globe Theater in London and is a former board member of the English-Speaking Union based in Winter Park. He believes that everyone can write, it's the planning and thinking that writers encounter as problems. With the right tools, however, notions such as "writer's block" can be a thing of the past.

Dr. Phillips is well-traveled having completed mission trips in both Guyana and Haiti. He also spent an entire academic year of college studying at the Vatican-run Villa Nazareth Academy under the supervision of Achille Cardinal Silvestrini in Rome, Italy. Dr. Phillips has continued with his desire to focus on international education and connecting students worldwide; he has served on the International Education Committee at Valencia and has presented at conferences focusing on distance learning in North Carolina and New York City. In addition, Dr. Phillips has presented workshops on engaging online learners at the GIEC-BIT conference in Dalian, China, and at the ISETL conference in Denver and Savannah. In 2014, Dr. Phillips was honored with the first place Technology Competition award by the Association of Florida Colleges at its annual conference in Destin, Florida. In 2017, Dr. Phillips was given the League of Innovation national achievement award in San Francisco.

In his spare time, Neal has a passion for music. Growing up, he spent 10 years as a member of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra as a violinist; he has performed solo in South America and Europe as well. He is a songwriter affiliated with the BMI music group and performs regularly with groups at Disney and Sea World. Additionally, Dr. Phillips runs his "passionate side gig" Quickdraw Records LLC, which provides live performers and DJ'd music for weddings and events. When not focused on teaching or entertainment, Neal escapes with the latest George R. R. Martin novels from the "Game of Thrones" series.

Dr. Phillips lives in Clermont, Florida with his wife of thirteen years, Ellen. They have three children -- Anthony, Alexia, and Luke. The family also has two dogs -- an energetic Jack Russell named Lacy and a mischievous Beagle called Barry.


Contact

West Campus
3-241
407-582-1134
nphillips@valenciacollege.edu
Faculty WebSite

Hours

phone: 407-582-1134
e-mail: nphillips@valenciacollege.edu

office hours: Zoom, phone, e-mail, or on-campus visit Monday through Friday anytime

office 3-241 on West campus on Mondays, 8am - 12 noon


Quickdraw Records LLC: quickdrawrecords.com