Dr. Murray holds the distinction of being the first Ph.D. graduate of UT's Department of Physics and Astronomy. Since the August day in 1950 when his degree was conferred, he has enjoyed a tremendous career as a scientist and professor, which was a slight deviation from the original path he chose as a youth.

"I had thought about going into high school teaching, originally," Dr. Murray explained. He earned a B.S. in science education at the University of Nebraska in 1940 but decided along the way to shoot for a higher teaching level. He finished a master's degree in physics at Nebraska in 1941, and from there headed to the University of California at Berkeley to continue his studies. One of his teachers was J. Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb," as he later became known.

"He was really tough," Dr. Murray recalled. "He was a brilliant person, but he didn't think much of students." He remembers taking 14 to 15 pages of notes per class, writing as fast as he could. After class, he said, "I'd have to go back and say, 'what did I miss?'" because it was virtually impossible to catch every point in the lecture and write it down.

Soon after the U.S. became involved in World War II, Dr. Murray joined the research effort on the electromagnetic method of uranium isotope separation at the UC-Berkeley Radiation Laboratory. Then in 1943 he was transferred to Oak Ridge to the Refining Division of the Tennessee Eastman Corporation. "The job was such that I couldn't finish my studies at Berkeley and decided to investigate the possibility of finishing graduate work at UT," he said.

"They were very kind to let me in," he said. "I value immensely the education I got in the physics department at the University of Tennessee."

In 1948 Dr. Murray resumed his graduate work through the UT Oak Ridge Resident Assistant Graduate Program, which allowed students to take evening and Saturday courses in Oak Ridge. This arrangement was especially helpful to young scientists who had interrupted their studies to work in Oak Ridge during the war effort, but wanted to finish their degrees. Among his classmates were Everitt Blizard, who worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory supervising investigations of reactor shielding, and Sidney Visner, who helped establish the ORNL Criticality Review Committee. Dr. Murray recalls fondly the physics faculty members he knew--William Pollard, Richard Present, John Trimmer, Edward Shipley, and Alvin Nielsen.

Although Dr. Murray had what he calls a "head start" because of his work at Nebraska and Berkeley, it still took two and half years of graduate study, balanced with work and family, to finish his doctorate. By the spring of 1950, he was poised to become the first Ph.D. graduate of UT's Physics Department. However, there was one caveat. Because his was the first doctoral degree conferred, he said his committee told him, "we want you to be the example." That meant going back to Y-12 in Oak Ridge for some additional work before he could graduate. Dr. Murray was a bit disappointed because he had a job waiting for him at North Carolina State University beginning in late June. But as things turned out, he ended up getting a publication out of the extra effort, and "after 30 years at NC State," he said, "that little bit didn't matter."

It was Dr. Clifford Beck who brought Dr. Murray to North Carolina State. The two had collaborated on criticality experiments at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge, and when Dr. Beck wanted to start a nuclear engineering program, he called on UT's first Ph.D. in physics. In the early 1950's, they built the first university nuclear engineering program, as well as the first university research and training nuclear reactor. By 1962 nuclear engineering had become a separate department, and the following year Dr. Murray became the head, serving in that role until 1974.

"There was a little bit of skepticism in educational circles around the country," about whether nuclear engineering was really a separate field, Dr. Murray explained. Some academics thought that perhaps other engineering programs could cover the material. But eventually the need was recognized and NC State created the prototype program with the help of a scientist who was used to university "firsts."

Building an academic program from scratch created unique challenges, such as a lack of teaching materials. In the mid 1950s, Dr. Murray began compiling his lecture notes into what eventually became Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, the first textbook devoted to this subject. Four other books followed, including Nuclear Energy, which he is now revising for a fifth edition. Writing textbooks was sort of a natural progression for a professor who won three outstanding teaching awards during his tenure at NC State, a fact he downplays.

"I was regarded as a pretty good teacher," Dr. Murray said. "I enjoyed it immensely." He said he is most proud of the fact that he inspired a number of his students to pursue teaching professionally. "It was a rewarding part of my career," he said.

Although he became a professor emeritus in 1980, Dr. Murray still keeps a full schedule. Next June he will give his seventh annual lecture on the history of nuclear power at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This presentation gives new nuclear plant executives some insight into the background of nuclear energy. "The history doesn't change," Dr. Murray said, but often newcomers don't really have a clear picture of the field. His role is to go back to the beginning of the century and walk them through the evolution of nuclear power, from fission to the war years to the emergence of nuclear power plants. Not all of his speaking invitations, however, come from the realm of academia. Recently, a service man who had come to fix his copier asked if he gave lectures and Dr. Murray ended up speaking to the Rotary Club.

"I'm sort of a ham, and I like doing things like that," he said.

Dr. Murray said he also finds time to enjoy a few hobbies, including golf ("I walk the first nine and ride the last nine"), old movies, and "reading a lot of things that aren't useful."

"I do that when I should be working on my book," he said.

Another priority is family, including his wife, Elizabeth Reid Murray, seven children, twelve grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

"Keeping up with their birthdays is a task in itself," he said. His traditional gift has been a check with a dollar value equal to the birthday age, and he said "it's getting more expensive all the time."

Although he's been through 79 birthdays himself, Dr. Murray is a living testament to the adage that you're only as old as you feel. "I feel like a man of 35 in a body of almost 80," he said. And though it's been almost 50 years since he became the department's first doctoral graduate, he remains the example of success his committee wanted him to become.

Back to Cross Sections, Fall 1999 issue.