Philip Connell ’71

Flip died Jan. 9, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia.  

He came to Princeton from Wardlaw Country Day in Plainfield, N.J., Flip was a religion major, belonged to Quad, immersed himself from day one in Theater Intime and Triangle Club, and formed deep bonds with Phil Hawley, Pete Johnsen, Miles Reiter, Bob Duncan, Andres Duany, Ron Rubenstein, Hugh Cobb, Rich Ferrugio, and Nick Hammond.  

Flip and Jennifer Doughty married in 1972, had two children, Justin and Gwyneth, but later divorced. He continued his creativity by producing comedy specials for HBO and then ran the Catch a Rising Star comedy club in New York City. The fast life in New York of the 1980s caught up with him, but he beat addiction. A clerical temp job at Salomon Brothers led to a 22-year career in investment banking.  

Flip earned an MBA at NYU, had a work transfer to London, where he met and married Lisa Baker, and then moved to her native Australia in 2013 with their two children, Declan (born in 2008) and Griffin (2010). There Flip worked as a manager in the nonprofit sector and stayed physically active with marathon running and cricket (though he remained a lifelong Yankees fan) throughout a long battle with lung disease. He kept contact with classmates through monthly Zoom calls after COVID.  

The class extends its condolences to his family and many friends and colleagues.