Laughlin Phillips

Laughlin Phillips (October 20, 1924 – January 24, 2010), also known as Loc Phillips, was an American museum director from Washington, D.C. The son of wealthy art collectors, he managed The Phillips Collection, a museum founded by his parents. Under his leadership, the museum increased its collection, underwent expansion projects and received substantial financial support.

Prior to his career as a museum director, Phillips served during World War II, worked as an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and co-founded a local magazine. He also co-founded the magazine Washingtonian.

Early life Laughlin Phillips, nicknamed "Loc," was born in Washington, D.C., in 1924, the son of Duncan Phillips, an art collector and critic, and Marjorie Acker Phillips, a painter. He had one sibling, Mary Marjorie, born in 1922, who contracted encephalitis at a young age and was institutionalized. According to Phillips, "she was severely brain damaged and never got beyond being four years old."

Phillips was named after his great-grandfather, James H. Laughlin, co-founder of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company and chair of the Pittsburgh National Bank (a precursor to PNC Financial Services). Three years prior to Phillips' birth, Duncan and Marjorie founded the Phillips Memorial Gallery, the United States' first museum of modern art. The museum was located in the Phillips' home, a Georgian Revival house in Dupont Circle where Laughlin spent his early childhood. In 1930, the family moved to another house, Dunmarlin, a mansion on Foxhall Road NW designed by architect John Russell Pope, to increase the museum's gallery space.

During his childhood, Dunmarlin was a noted meeting place for diplomats, politicians and artists. He was chauffeured each day to St. Albans School, an elite private school where he graduated in 1942. Following his father's death in 1966, Phillips began serving as board chairman of the museum. His mother was the director of the museum until 1972, when Phillips assumed the role. He sold his stake in the magazine in 1979 to devote all of his time to The Phillips Collection, at the time a "deteriorating jewel box of a museum", calling it "a family responsibility." He "supervised multi-million dollar fundraising campaigns, starting charging admission, established corporate and personal membership programs, and sought arts endowment grants that the museum had seldom if ever pursued."

For his successful efforts at improving the museum, Phillips was named a "Washingtonian of the Year" by Washingtonian magazine. He retired as museum director in 1992, and for the first time in its history, the museum was managed by someone other than a Phillips family member.

Later years Phillips continued serving as the museum's chairman of the board until March 2002.