Director 1992 - 2000
Born in New Jersey, Murphy earned a Ph.D. at Rutgers University. He later taught at Harvard University Medical School, where he repeatedly won distinction as an outstanding teacher. In 1986, he was appointed chair of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Alberta. In 1992, he succeeded Donald Baxter as Director of the Montreal Neurological Institute, becoming the first research scientist to hold the post. His tenure marked a period of rapid growth. He introduced molecular medicine to the MNI, hiring a score of outstanding young scientists skilled in the latest techniques to study the workings of the nervous system at the molecular level. New laboratories were built for the Centre for Neuronal Survival. In 1999, the new Brain Tumour Research Centre was opened as the first centre in Canada devoted to investigating the causes of brain tumours. Murphy departed Montreal in 2000 to become President and Chief Executive Officer of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, where he remained until July, 2007.
