Phillip Moffitt, a native of Kingsport, earned the bachelor’s degree in political science and psychology in 1968 and the master’s in economics in 1971. He was Student Government Association president in 1967–68 (winning by 33 votes) and was a 1968 Torchbearer. He served as assistant dean of students in 1969–70. He was among the founders of 13-30 Corporation (later Whittle Communications), which purchased the failing Esquire magazine in 1979. Moffitt became editor in chief of Esquire, a post he continued to hold after Whittle Communications split.
When Moffitt sold the magazine to the Hearst Company in 1987, its circulation stood at a respectable 750,000, and its two strongest markets were New York and Los Angeles. In 1987 he resigned his position at Esquire without a plan, and, as he says, “waited for a purpose” to manifest itself. In 1983 he had begun studying Vipassana meditation, and following his departure from Esquire, he began teaching Hatha yoga and meditation. He founded the Life Balance Institute, which is a “non-profit organization dedicated to the study and practice of spiritual values in daily life.” Moffitt teaches from the principles of Theravada Buddhism, in which he is a lay teacher. He teaches Vipassana meditation at retreats around the United States.
He holds the black belt in Aikido, certification as a somatic educator, and has for 30 years practiced and taught Hatha yoga. He is an award-winning essayist and writes the “Dharma Wisdom” column for Yoga Journal. In 1990 he coauthored The Power to Heal, and in 1992 he coauthored Medicine’s Great Journey: One Hundred Years of Healing. In 2008 he published Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering. He spoke and signed copies of his new book on campus in November 2008, at which time he was also honored as an “accomplished alumnus” by the UT Alumni Association.