Joseph C. Phillips, who played Lt. Martin Kendall on the Cosby Show, has joined the Clark Atlanta University faculty as a Theater and Communications Studies professor.
Dr. George T. French Jr, President of the university, lauded Phillips for his vast accomplishments in an official statement issued by the school.
“Joseph brings a wealth of awe-inspiring talent, meaningful engagement in the community, and a portfolio of informed, decisive commentary to the University,” French said. “We anticipate that he will inspire independent thinking, civic responsibility, and a passion for interdisciplinary learning in our students—which aligns perfectly with our mantra to “lift our community by lifting our voices.”
On his official Facebook account, Phillips confirmed his new position.
“The secret is out,” he wrote. “I’m loving my new gig.”
In 1983, Phillips earned his BFA in acting from New York University after transferring from the University of the Pacific, where he was a communications major. He was a fellow at the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian College, the Abraham Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute and at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, where he wrote the curriculum and taught a seven-week course titled “Black Conservatism in America.”
For ten years, he served as a director on the State Board of the California African American Museum.
As an author, he wrote He Talk Like a White Boy and published a widely syndicated weekly column The Way I See It for eight years. He was also regular commentator for NPR and American Urban Radio Network.
The three-time NAACP Image Award nominee played Col. Greg Davis for four seasons in the Netflix award-winning series 13 Reasons Why. He played Attorney Justus Ward on General Hospital and has had guest-starring roles in How to Get Away with Murder, NCIS and Good Trouble.
On the big screen, Phillips starred in Strictly Business, Let’s Talk About Sex, Midnight Blue, and others. His theatrical credits include a Broadway production of Six Degrees of Separation and the Kennedy Center and American Playhouse productions of A Raisin in the Sun.
Phillips also created the title role in Dreaming Emmett, which was Toni Morrison’s only theatrical play.
