Phil Ellenburg named vice president for alumni relations
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Lipscomb University has appointed Nashville attorney and higher education veteran Phil Ellenburg as its vice president of alumni relations.
Ellenburg returns to Lipscomb having served as the university’s general counsel and overseeing the university’s legal affairs, risk management, campus safety and government relations programs for nearly 20 years. In February 2013, Ellenburg was named president of Middle Tennessee Christian School, a preK-12 school affiliated with the Churches of Christ located in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where he served in that role until December 2015.
“Phil has a great passion for Lipscomb and for higher education,” said Scott McDowell, senior vice president for student life. “Alumni development and relationship are essential to a successful university. Our alumni are important to us, and we are so proud of what they go out and do in the world after they leave our campus. Phil’s passion for Lipscomb is great, and his long history with the university will be an asset as we continually work to engage our alumni.”
A 1986 graduate of Lipscomb University, Ellenburg said he is excited to return to his alma mater to oversee alumni relations and to lead a team of alumni professionals serving Lipscomb’s 35,000 living alumni around the world. Currently, alumni relations includes all alumni-related events and services, such as Graduates of the Last Decade, the Golden Circle and senior alumni programs, Lifelong Learning, Summer Hostel and the Associated Women for Lipscomb, among others. He said he hopes to engage alumni of all ages in a variety of programs and initiatives in the near future.
“Lipscomb is in my blood,” said Ellenburg. “It had a profound impact on who I am. The lifelong friends I made on campus, the faculty who cared enough to challenge me, the mentors who patiently advised me – all helped shape me into a better version of myself. But, for every great Lipscomb story I have, our alumni have similar stories of their own. My experience was not isolated. It is what Lipscomb does. So, it made perfect sense for me to come back to this place that runs so deep in my family and is just a part of who I am, to serve our incredible alumni. I want everyone to be as proud of Lipscomb and love the school as much as I do. Our alumni are at the center of everything we do here at Lipscomb from enrollment to stewardship to career development to building university pride and everything in between.”
A native of Merritt Island, Fla., Ellenburg siad his parents instilled in him a lifelong love of learning in a classical academic sense, but also in broader extracurriculars such as athletics, music and the arts. Desiring the Christian education that was unavailable to him in secondary school, Ellenburg said he decided to attend David Lipscomb College, receiving a Bachelor of Science in accounting. While a student, he was active on campus, participating in Greek life, Bison Day, Singarama and intramurals. He was chosen Bachelor of Ugliness by his peers in 1985. He earned the Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1989.
He practiced law in the Nashville firm of Watkins, McGugin, McNeilly & Rowan until 1994 when he joined Lipscomb the first time. He was named associate university attorney at Lipscomb in January 1994 and was soon promoted to general counsel. At Lipscomb, Ellenburg was a member of the senior leadership team and served for over a decade as the recording secretary of the Board of Trustees. In his role as general counsel, he worked closely and frequently with the board, administration, faculty and staff of Lipscomb University and Lipscomb Academy, advising them on a host of issues, as well as overseeing the University’s risk management and security programs.
Ellenburg and his wife, the former Leigh Dugger (’86), have two daughters, Olivia (’15) and Lillie Grace (a current Lipscomb University senior) and a son, Barr (a high school junior).