Phil Lopes (low-pus) came to Tucson
in 1969 to help establish Pima Community College. He planned and implemented
the College’s first continuing education, extension, and community
services programs and taught Anthropology and Community Development classes.
Phil is locally and nationally known for his work in
public health, a field he entered in 1973 following his years at PCC.
He is widely known as founder and member of the board of the Arizona Health
Care Campaign and other organizations dedicated to the establishment of
a system providing affordable health care for all Arizonans. He was a
leader of the Tucson/Pima County Community Profile. As the interim Executive
Director of El Pueblo Clinic (2000-2001), he is credited with saving the
financially ailing Southside health institution that serves poor and uninsured
area residents.
During his tenure as a senior manager at the Arizona
Department of Health Services, he was responsible for the distribution
of the Tobacco Tax funds earmarked for services to uninsured people. Before
joining the Department of Health, he was Senior Lecturer in Community
Medicine and Assistant Director of the Rural Health Office of the UA College
of Medicine. He is a founding faculty member of the UA College of Public
Health and has taught at the University of Phoenix since 1981.
Phil was the Executive Director of the Health Systems
Agency of Southeastern Arizona from 1981-1987, and prior to that held
senior administrative positions with the Arizona Health Foundation, which
provided health care to low income families and individuals, and with
Visiting Nurse Association Home Health Services.
The Peace Corps in early 1960’s gave him his first
opportunity for public service. He was among the first 25 persons selected,
working for two years in Colombia in 1961-1963, and as staff in Brazil
1963-1965. Later, he returned from Tucson for Peace Corps duty from 1976-1981
as Country Director for Ecuador and then as Co-Director with his wife
Pam for Brazil. Phil speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese.
Other community activities have included membership on
the Independent Citizens Committee, responsible for review of the TUSD
court-ordered desegregation, Board member of the Arizona Public Health
Association and of the Southern Chapter of the Arizona Civil Liberties
Union.
Born in California in 1941, Phil received his B.A. in
Latin American Studies at UCLA, and an M.A. in Anthropology from the University
of Wisconsin. He and Pam (who he met in the Peace Corps), married for
39 years, have two adult sons and one granddaughter. They have lived in
the same house on the west side of Tucson since 1970. |
