Dr. Philip Meeks, associate professor, born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, received his B.A. in government and international relations from the University of Notre Dame in 1972 and a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin in 1980. At Notre Dame, he was a member of the Honors Program, a Ford Foundation Fellow, and studied in France during his sophomore year. At U.T., he was chosen as part of the first group of interdisciplinary "honors" graduate fellows and won the Redford Graduate Paper Award in 1979. After graduate research study in France, England, Portugal, and Denmark in the late 1970’s, he completed a doctoral dissertation on the influence of domestic interest groups on foreign economic policy in Britain, France, and Germany.
Dr. Meeks came to Creighton in 1992 as the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and served in that position until the fall of 1996 when he began teaching full-time in the department. He previously taught at the University of Texas from 1978 to 1980 and at the University of Georgia from 1980-1985. In 1982, he was visiting professor at the Institute des Etudes Politiques at the University of Bordeaux in France and in 1984 he was a Research Fellow at the Atlantic Institute in Paris. From 1985 to 1992, he taught at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where he served as the chairman of the department of political science from 1987 to 1991, was president of the Faculty Senate from 1989 to 1991, and received the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in 1991. Dr. Meeks was section chair of the Comparative and Interdisciplinary Studies Section of the International Studies Association from April 1996-March 1998 and past president of the Southwest Region of the I.S.A. from April 1993-March 1995. During his sabbatical in the spring semester of 1998, Dr. Meeks did research in England and France and during the summer he was a Guest Research Fellow at the Kellogg Institute at the University of Notre Dame. In the spring of 1999, he accompanied and taught fifteen Creighton students at the ILAC Center in Santiago, Dominican Republic. During that semester he also visited and conducted research in Haiti and Puerto Rico.
Dr. Meeks has served Creighton University in a variety of positions, both elected and appointed. He has also participated at many professional meetings and conferences. During his sabbatical in the summer of 2014, Dr. Meeks was a visiting professor at the Universite de Namur in Belgium.
Dr. Meeks has a broad range of teaching and research interest in both the comparative and international relations sub-fields of political science. He has written and taught extensively in the areas of international political economy, international security, and science and technology policies. He has also frequently taught and written about politics in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Recently, his interests have focused on ethnic and racial politics as well as immigration and nationalism issues. He has been busy working with several publishers writing teaching supplements and instructor guides.
Dr. Meeks is also active in his community as he has served on the Social Ministry Board for the Catholic Diocese, Campaign Chair for the United Way Drive, as well as a layperson for Ignation Associates, which study and do service for the ministries of the Society of Jesus. He also assists in programs at Creighton Prep High School, Jesuit Meddle School and Computers for Africa.
He enjoys art and music and has become an avid sculptor and painter. Dr. Meeks and his wife, Carolyn, have four adult children as well as several grandchildren.
