From Asbury’s classrooms to military medicine around the world, Dr. Ryan Phillips ’02 has carried a foundation of faith, ethics and scientific learning into more than 20 years of service as a United States Navy physician.
For Dr. Ryan Phillips ’02, an Asbury University education helped establish a framework that continues to shape his approach to faith, science and service more than two decades after graduation.
Phillips, a 2002 graduate of Asbury’s Biochemistry program, serves as a Captain in the United States Navy Medical Corps and Chief Medical Officer for Naval Medical Forces Pacific. He also serves as an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at the Uniformed Services University.
After graduating from Asbury, Phillips attended the University of Kentucky College of Medicine through the Navy’s Health Professions Scholarship Program. He entered active duty after medical school and has spent the past 20 years serving as a Navy physician in roles including flight surgeon, anesthesiologist and pain medicine physician. His service has taken him across the United States and around the world, including Japan, Afghanistan and an aircraft carrier.
Throughout that journey, Phillips has continued to draw from lessons he learned at Asbury.
Having professors who could blend their faith along with teaching in the sciences has provided a framework for me since graduating that there is a way to reconcile our faith, our ethics, and science."
More than 20 years after graduating, Phillips continues to carry Asbury’s integration of faith, learning and service into his work in military medicine.
Phillips also remembers the relationships and experiences that shaped his college years. He participated in Men’s Glee Club, Sigma Zeta and Senior Class Cabinet, but some of his strongest memories come from friendships formed in the residence halls and traveling on Men’s Glee Club spring break tours.
His connection to Asbury also spans generations. Phillips’ parents graduated from Asbury in 1979, his wife, Andrea Adams ’00 Phillips, is an alumna, and his sister graduated in 2005. His extended family includes several additional Asbury alumni and former faculty members. Today, the tradition continues through Phillips’ oldest son, Grayson, a member of Asbury’s Class of 2028.
Looking back, Phillips encourages prospective students to embrace the opportunities Asbury provides for both academic and spiritual formation.
“Asbury is an amazing place with faculty and staff who genuinely care about you and your spiritual and academic growth,” Phillips said. “You will have an opportunity to learn about yourself, your call, and how you can use any vocation to further the kingdom.”
For Phillips, that calling has extended from Asbury’s campus to a career of medical leadership and service around the world.
The Asbury University Shaw School of Sciences includes five departments: Biology & Chemistry, Equine Studies, Exercise Science, Mathematics & Computer Science, and Nursing.
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