June 26, 2023
Thomas Phillips impacted the University of Missouri through his 37 years of award-winning teaching, groundbreaking research and distinguished service.
Now, the freshly retired Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor and biological sciences professor is leaving a permanent mark on MU: The room inside the Bond Life Sciences Center that houses the Advanced Light Microscopy Core has been named in his honor the Thomas E. Phillips Light Microscopy Facility.
Phillips founded and established the Advanced Light Microscopy Core in 1991 and served continuously as its director until 2022. The core is an invaluable resource for light microscopy, immunocytochemistry and general scientific image analysis and processing.
His lab used bright-field microscopy, wide-field and confocal immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy in combination with biochemical and molecular genetic techniques to study mucosal cell biology in the conjunctiva (the inner surface of the eyelid) and intestinal tract.
Some of Phillips’ teaching honors include being named a William T. Kemper Fellow for Teaching Excellence in 2006 and a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor in 2016.
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