Grover E. Murray

Grover Elmer Murray (October 26, 1916 – May 22, 2003) was an American geologist, educator, and writer.

Grover E. Murray
Murray in 1967
BornOctober 26, 1916
Maiden, North Carolina
DiedMay 22, 2003(2003-05-22) (aged 86)
Lubbock, Texas
NationalityAmerican
OccupationGeologist, teacher, researcher, petroleum consultant, writer, administrator
Spouse(s)Nancy Setzer Murray (died: 1985)
Sally Sowell Williams Murray
ChildrenMartha Murray
Barbara Elizabeth Murray

Early life

Grover Murray was born in Maiden, North Carolina. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to Newton where Murray attended public school. Upon graduation, he enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a degree in geology. He went on to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he received an M.S. in 1939 and a Ph.D. in 1942.[1]

Louisiana State University

Murray began his career as a geologist in the petroleum industry. In 1948, he became a professor at LSU.[2] In 1963, Murray was promoted to Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs. Two years later, he became Vice President for Academic Affairs for the entire Louisiana State University System.[1]

Texas Tech

On September 1, 1966, Murray departed Louisiana for Lubbock, Texas, where he had accepted the job as president of Texas Technological College. During his time there, which ended in 1976, the school expanded considerably. The law school and medical school were built and the International Center for Arid and Semi-Arid Land Studies was created.[1] As a result, also during Murray's time, the name of the school was changed from Texas Technological College to Texas Tech University.[3]

He was a member of the International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences since 1967.

Later life

After retiring as the president of Texas Tech, Murray continued to teach a geology course. Further, he returned to geologic consulting.[1] In 1996, he was awarded the William H. Twenhofel Medal, which is the highest award given by the Society for Sedimentary Geology. Also in 1996, Murray and his wife, Sally, created the Grover E. Murray Education Award.[4] Funded by Murray, the AAPG Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator Award is also named in his honor.[5]

On April 10, 2015, H. Allen Anderson, a historian with the Southern Collection at Texas Tech, presented "A Bowtie Maverick in West Texas: Grover E. Murray and the Emergence of Texas Tech University" at the 92nd annual meeting at Amarillo College in Amarillo of the West Texas Historical Association.[6]

gollark: Oh no.
gollark: What *is* the interdimensional stability constant these days?
gollark: Ah yes, the spaghnum constant?
gollark: I shut it down because I assumed it was rate-limit problems again.
gollark: Sorry, Discord was broken.

References
  1. "In Memory Of Grover Elmer Murray". Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  2. "Grover E. Murray Postcard Collection". Archived from the original on 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  3. Handbook of Texas Online - TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
  4. "FORMER TEXAS TECH PRESIDENT GROVER E. MURRAY DIES". Archived from the original on 2007-05-16. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  5. Award:Educator
  6. "Building a World Class University" (PDF). West Texas Historical Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.