After completing undergraduate work at the University of Illinois, William B. Phillips was employed by IBM. He came to Purdue in 1962 to do graduate work and returned to IBM after completing his PhD in 1966. At IBM at Boulder he managed the development of manufacturing of magnetic tape and hard disk drives, became technical assistant to the division president, and in 1978 became magnetic media program manager. By 1982 Phillips had been promoted to operations manager for IBM's facilities at Boulder and Tucson. While at IBM, he received the Division President's Award for solving wear problems on thin film heads.

In 1984 Phillips left IBM to become vice president and general manager of Brown Disc Manufacturing, a small disk manufacturing company where he managed all phases of operations including development of new products and finance. Today Phillips is vice president, technology operations, at Storage Technology Corporation, a company he joined in 1987. In 1990 he assumed his present position in which he oversees research, development, and manufacturing units.

As an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado, Phillips has taught courses in digital servo mechanisms, and in production management and quality. He has consulted for major Colorado companies, organized two IEEE International Magnetic Conferences, been session organizer or chairperson for ten other conferences, and currently serves on the board of the National Storage Industry Consortium.

Phillips has served his community as vice president of the Colorado Music Festival, as a director of the National Bank of the Rockies, and as a fund raiser for United Way, the Tucson Symphony, and the YMCA.