Jon Phillips Named Senior Assistant Dean and Chief Administrative Officer

June 26, 2024

Jon Phillips, a man with short dark hair, a beard, and a mustache, smiles at the camera. He wears a patterned button-up shirt under a dark cardigan. The background is a solid light blue.

Jon Phillips

Berkeley Journalism today announced the promotion of Jon Phillips to Senior Assistant Dean and Chief Administrative Officer at Berkeley Journalism.

In this capacity, Phillips will be the most senior staff member at the school and serve as the dean’s chief of staff. He will lead non-academic functions, provide critical leadership and oversee the school’s administrative and financial integrity.

“Jon is among the most talented administrators I have had a chance to work with at Berkeley,” Geeta Anand, dean of Berkeley Journalism said. “He brings a collaborative spirit and good judgment, a brilliant mind and an empathetic heart.”

As he’s done in his current roles at Berkeley Journalism and in more than seven years on the Berkeley campus, Anand said, Phillips will lead with empathy, skill, and dedication to advancing the excellence of our programs. “It’s important to Jon, as it is to me, that we will continue our momentum as a school in bringing faculty, staff, and students together in common cause to lead journalism education at the world’s leading public university.”

Phillips’ background includes serving as the Vice Chair of the Chancellor’s Staff Advisory Committee to improve the experiences of staff members on campus. He also worked at the College of Letters & Sciences to champion undergraduate and graduate student needs. At Berkeley Journalism, he has served as Deputy CAO, Director of Human Resources, and Academic HR Analyst, supporting our faculty and staff in navigating the complexities of campus policy and bureaucracy. Philips studied higher education administration, earning his master’s degree at Harvard University.

He replaces Amy Utstein, who is retiring. He will begin in this new role on July 1.