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University of Wyoming

Samuel C. Phillips

◊ Director of Apollo in charge of manning the Lunar Landing Program


Wyoming Connections


Phillips was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity and Air Force ROTC.

The University of Wyoming awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1963.

Hometown:
Cheyenne, Wyoming

College:
Engineering

Degree:
B.S. Electrical Engineering (1942)
H.D. (1963)

General Samuel Phillips graduated from public schools in Cheyenne, Wyoming, prior to earning a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming in 1942 and a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1950.

After earning his pilot wings, during World War II he served with the 364th Fighter Group, Eighth Air Force, in England and completed two combat tours of duty in the European Theater of Operations. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal with Seven Oak Leaf Clusters, and the French Croix de Guerre. After the war, he was assigned to the European Theater headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. In July 1947 he was transferred to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.

Since 1950 his research and development assignments have included six years with the Engineering Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; duty as electronics officer with the atomic energy experiments at Eniwetok during Operation Greenhouse; and project officer assignments with B-52 bomber aircraft, and Falcon and Bomarc missiles programs.

Phillips was also the director of the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. On Sept. 26, 1971, he was awarded the Smithsonian Institution's Langley Medal for his contributions to the Apollo space program from 1964 to 1969. He was the 14th recipient of the Langley Medal since the award was first presented to the Wright Brothers in 1909.

He is now deceased. Click here to read more about Gen. Phillips.

Photos courtesy of United States Air Force and American Heritage Center