Kathy (Stone) and Bob Phillips were both living in TJ Hall’s North Tower when they met in August 1986 while attending a trigonometry review session before the start of their freshman year. At breakfast on Tuesday morning, Bob and several of the other guys from his floor decided to sit with Kathy and her roommate. Over biscuits and gravy, the sparks flew between the two of them. They began studying together and by the end of the semester, were essentially inseparable, and there were mixtapes involved.
“We took an Honors course together in the Art and History of the Renaissance, jointly taught by Drs. Jim Bogan and Jack Ridley,” she says. “This class taught us so much, broadening our science and engineering-focused brains, and we were so fortunate to have experienced it together.”
In 1990, Kathy earned a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering and Bob earned a bachelor’s degree in life sciences. The couple was married two weeks later at St. Patrick Church in Rolla by Fr. Charlie Pardee, the priest at the UMR Newman Center at the time.
“Our wedding reception was in the Student Center on campus and our music was provided by the KMNR disc jockeys,” she adds.
Today Bob works as a family physician and serves as the founding executive director of the Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care of the American Board of Family Medicine. Kathy works as a 12th grade geosystems teacher with the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia.
Their relationship advice?
“Choose a partner that enables you to be the best version of yourself,” she says.
Share This Story
Spark a Memory?
Share your story! Fill out the form below to share your fondest memory or anecdote of S&T. If you'd prefer not typing, you can also share by phone at 833-646-3715 (833-Miner150).
Builders of the bomb
The U.S. government’s Manhattan Project, which led to the development of the first nuclear weapons, was a massive but highly…
Gregory McClain: education’s key to success
Gregory McClain, who graduated in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering management and...
Float like a butterfly
Few have shared the ring with Muhammad Ali or been praised by the New York Times as “one of America’s…
Contributing to a Nobel Prize
Dr. Clyde Cowan, ChemE’40, was posthumously recognized for his part in research that earned the 1995 Nobel Prize in physics….
Tina (Pankey) and Patrick Hammond
Tina (Pankey) and Patrick Hammond met through mutual friends at a party in November 2004. The couple had their first…
Not your average Joe
You know all about Joe Miner, the world’s greatest mascot. But do you know Joe Minor, the civil engineer? Joseph…