Deborale Richardson-Phillips has been named president of Loyola High School, the all-male Jesuit high school in northwest Detroit.
She is succeeding Dave Smith, who is retiring at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. She will be the first female and first African American president in the school’s 30-year history.
“The entire Loyola community is blessed to have found such a qualified and capable executive with extraordinary credentials and experience like Deborale,” says Mike Bernard, chairman of the board at Loyola. “At the same time, we are forever grateful to Dave for his service, leadership and results during a time of unparalleled transformation at Loyola.”
Richardson-Phillips will be the seventh Loyola president since the school was founded in August 1993 as a collaboration between the Archdiocese of Detroit and the Jesuits of the USA Midwest Province. Today, Loyola is home to approximately 150 young men on an annual basis and is one of only three Catholic high schools still operating in the city of Detroit.
Most recently, Richardson-Phillips was vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, where she created the school’s first-ever DEI strategic plan. She also collaborated with Office Advancement on stewardship efforts, including an increase in giving by alumni of color; and taught African American history, among many other contributions. Her 25 years of corporate and educational experience also includes leadership positions at FirstEnergy in Akron, Ohio and at Case Western University and Cuyahoga Community College, respectively.
Richardson-Phillips earned both a Ph.D. in philosophy, human development, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Delaware. She also received a B.A. in Political Science/Sociology from Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina and is currently studying for a Master of Arts in Theology from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans.
