Susan S. Phillips, PhD

Susan S. Phillips, Ph.D. (U.C. Berkeley), served as Executive Director at New College Berkeley from 1994 to 2022 and prior to that was the Academic Dean. She also served on the Graduate Theological Union’s Core Doctoral Faculty. New College Berkeley’s commitment to promoting the integration of Christian faith in everyday life is central to her sense of call as a sociologist and spiritual director.

The ethics of care and how practices of care and devotion shape us as individuals and communities are compelling concerns for Susan Phillips. Much of her writing — including The Crisis of Care: Affirming and Restoring Caring Practices in the Helping Professions (edited with Patricia Benner, Georgetown, 1994), Candlelight: Illuminating the Art of Spiritual Direction (Morehouse, 2008), and The Cultivated Life: From Ceaseless Striving to Receiving Joy (IVP, 2015) — and teaching are in these areas. She also co-edited (with Soo-Inn Tan) a festschrift in honor of NCB Founding President W. Ward Gasque: Serving God’s Community: Essays in Honor of W. Ward Gasque (Regent, 2014).

Susan is married to Steve, and together they have two sons and a granddaughter. She also serves as a spiritual director for individuals and groups, teaches, and writes in the field, and serves as a supervisor for spiritual directors (including those who lead groups for NCB). For many years she has co-led New College Berkeley’s year-long Spiritual Exercises program as well as led NCB’s Advent and Lenten retreats.