John Phillips graduated from Harvard College

Harvard College

Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

 in 1735. Among many other activities, he was a trustee of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

 from 1773 to 1793 and endowed the Phillips Professorship of Theology there. Dartmouth awarded him an LLD in 1777.

He and his wife, Elizabeth (Dennet) Phillips, founded Phillips Exeter Academy

Phillips Exeter Academy

Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...

 in Exeter, New Hampshire

Exeter, New Hampshire

Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...

, in 1781.

His nephew, Samuel Phillips, Jr.

Samuel Phillips, Jr.

Samuel Phillips, Jr. . Merchant, manufacturer and patriot, Phillips is considered a pioneer in American education.Samuel Phillips Jr. was born in North Andover, Massachusetts...

, had, with help from John Phillips, founded the nearby Phillips Academy

Phillips Academy

Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...

 in Andover, Massachusetts

Andover, Massachusetts

Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...

, in 1778. These two schools, longtime rivals, are among the oldest and most prestigious preparatory schools

University-preparatory school

A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

His first wife, Sarah (Emery) Gilman was a wealthy widow, and he left one third of his large estate to Phillips Andover and two-thirds to Phillips Exeter. He left no children.

"Goodness without knowledge... is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous.... Both united form the noblest character and lay the surest foundation of usefulness to mankind. Many men went a walking and many crippled men, did not." -- John Phillips

"With great power comes great responsibility." -- John Phillips