Genevieve Phillips

Genevieve “Gen” Phillips, who worked as administrative support for a slew of Laboratory managers, died May 25. She was 85.

In a long and distinguished career at Livermore, Phillips provided indispensable administrative support to two of the Laboratory directors and the Physics Directorate. She first met Edward Teller in 1956 when he participated in a summer project with a colleague in San Diego, and Phillips served as secretary to the group. Admitting that he was helpless without a good assitant, Teller recalled in his “Memoirs” that “I was happy that when I asked Gen to join the Laboratory staff, she accepted. I did not know at the time that I was shortly to become director in Livermore, but I know now that without Gen, I could not have managed.”

In addition to directly supporting Teller while he served as director, Phillips took on key responsibilities in the administrative management of the Laboratory. One of the most memorable highlights of her career was her opportunity to serve as lady-in-waiting to Queen Frederika of Greece during her visit to the Laboratory in November 1958. Phillips continued working with Teller when he stepped down as director in 1960 and became professor of physics-at-large for the University of California. For more than 10 years, the two were largely inseparable, working long hours together including while they commuted from their homes in Berkeley to Livermore and to UC Davis, where Teller taught classes.

After a leave from the Laboratory, Phillips returned to work for Teller in 1964 as office manager for the Physics Associate Directorate. She stayed on to support John Anderson and then John Nuckolls after Teller’s retirement. When Nuckolls became Laboratory director in 1988, he asked Phillips to be the assistant to the director, where she provided outstanding support even after her retirement from full-time work in 1991. Nuckolls credits Phillips as being “one of the best administrators I’ve known. She was widely admired and her career has served as a model for many.”

Phillips was born in Carroll, Iowa, on April 23, 1924. She is survived by her daughter, Mary.

Services have been held.