Dean Phillips; Was Chief Executive at Goodwill

Dean Phillips, a past president and chief executive of what is now Goodwill Industries International, a nonprofit provider of employment and health training services for people with disabilities and other needs, has died.

Phillips died of heart disease at his home in Rockville, Md., on Jan. 11. He was 84.

Long involved with Goodwill and other charitable work, Phillips held the top posts there from 1973 to 1980.

Phillips came to the Goodwill presidency with a notion of enhancing its mission by increasing the involvement of private enterprise and local business associations.

His program, called Projects With Industry, is now defunct, but it set the groundwork for what has become the organization’s overall approach to job training.

Phillips also oversaw the implementation of uniform standards for training and rehabilitation services.

In addition to his work with Goodwill, Phillips helped start the National Industries for the Severely Handicapped and was a board chairman of that organization, which helps find work for the disabled.

He also was a former board president of the National Center for a Barrier-Free Environment, an advocacy group that raises awareness of the need for public accessibility for the disabled. He also served on the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped.

A native of Collbran, Colo., Phillips grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from Compton Community College.

He found work after college with North American Aviation, first at the firm’s Los Angeles facility and later in Kansas City, Mo., and Columbus, Ohio, where he served in a number of management positions including director of industrial relations, personnel director and, ultimately, as director of personnel and public relations.

Survivors include his wife, Carole Wannen Phillips of Rockville, Md.; three sons, Michael of Playa del Rey, Calif., William of Albany, Calif., and Jeffrey of Germantown, Md.; and three grandchildren.