This fall, Stillman expanded its English department with the addition of Dr. Phillip Blackmon to its faculty. Blackmon has been in higher education for 16 years.

Blackmon, a Monroeville, Ala., native, earned a Bachelor of Science in Language Arts Education from Alabama State University (ASU). He achieved his Master of Education in English from ASU and obtained his Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Louisville (U of L).

After receiving his master’s degree, he served as an instructor of English at ASU for eleven years. While perusing his terminal degree at the U of L, he served as  a graduate teaching assistant and taught freshman composition I and II, as well as African America Literature.

When asked what he was most excited about, Blackmon said, “I look forward to working with the students. It’s always exciting helping students to find their voice in their writing.”

Blackmon reflected on the influence of a previous mentor, Dr. Linda Bradford, in his coming to make Stillman his home. Bradford serves as the Dean of Professional Studies at Stillman. However, when she mentored Blackmon, she was his supervisor at ASU where she directed the campus Writing Center. “She helped to nurture my love for composition and teaching. She also taught me how to become a more responsible college student when she hired me as the lone work-study student in the Writing Center during the summer of 1991. I owe her a lot,” he said.

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