J. Daniel Phillips’ professional journeys led him to just about every corner of the globe during his 33-year diplomatic career.
Phillips ’57/58 retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 1994, after serving as ambassador to Burundi from 1986-90 and then to the Republic of Congo from 1990-93, assisting both countries in their moves toward more democratic institutions.
He took active roles on environmental issues and counted among his career highlights shepherding the tri-country negotiations that led to the establishment of Ndoki Forest Reserves, parts of which lie in Congo, Central African Republic and Cameroon, and working with Jane Goodall and others to establish chimpanzee sanctuaries in Burundi and Congo.
After his retirement, he consulted through his firm, Dan Phillips & Associates, Arlington, Va., with organizations on environmental concerns.
He also headed the Central Africa Foundation and the H.M. Salaam Foundation and served on the board of the Jane Goodall Institute. Most recently, he helped found Diplomats and Commanders
for Change.
His diplomatic forays to Europe, Africa and Asia led this critical social thinker to view the world as a global village, but, sadly, to also experience its deep-seated ethnic divisions. The title he chose for his 2002 WSU Distinguished Alumni Speaker Breakfast Series lecture was “Divisions in Our Global Village.”
Dan Phillips died Oct. 6, 2008, in Arlington.
