Phil Handy ’62
Phil Handy ’62
Entrepreneur and Education Strategist
An influential and highly-regard Florida Republican who is widely respected for his knowledge and his commitment to education, Phil is chairman of Senator John McCain’s National Education Policy Committee. In January 2007, he completed a six-year term as Chairman of the Florida Board of Education. During 2004, he was appointed by President Bush to the National Board of Education Sciences and served as its vice president until 2007, before being reappointed to the board in 2008.
“Phil has one of the finest education minds in the country,'' Sen. McCain said in a written statement announcing Handy's appointment as chairman of his education policy committee during January 2007. "There are few people that understand the impact a quality education can have on a child's life as much as he does.”
A four-year senior and South Crossley floor officer, Phil served on the Northfield Mount Hermon Board of Trustees from 1990 until 1995, and also served as treasurer (1991-93). During 2007, at his 45th reunion, Phil was honored with the Distinguished Service Award.
A graduate of Princeton (BA in economics, cum laude) and Harvard Business School, he is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University’s public policy think tank, and is an advisor to the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
The chairman of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's 1994 and 1998 gubernatorial campaigns, he was co-chair of his 2002 campaign.
Over the years, he has served on numerous boards and has held key positions with a number of groups and government commissions, working for term limits, affordable housing, private sector health care, and countless other issues.
The founder of Winter Park Capital, he has served as CEO of Strategic Industries, a diversified global service and manufacturing company, since 2001.