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

Early life

Grover Murray was born in

Maiden Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

where Murray attended public school. Upon graduation, he enrolled at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

and earned a degree in geology. He went on to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, where he received an M.S. in 1939 and a Ph.D. in 1942.

Louisiana State University

Murray began his career as a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

in the

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

industry. In 1948, he became a professor at LSU. 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 The Louisiana State University System is a system of public colleges and universities in Louisiana. It is budgetarily the largest public university system in the state. William F. Tate IV is president of the LSU system, and also serves as chance ...

Texas Tech

On September 1, 1966, Murray departed

for

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, 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 A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

and

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

were built and the International Center for Arid and Semi-Arid Land Studies was created. As a result, also during Murray's time, the name of the school was changed from Texas Technological College to

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

. He was a member of the

International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences The International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences (INHIGEO) promotes ongoing research into the history of the earth sciences, particularly the history of geology. It has 20 Honorary Senior Members and 301 members (2018) worldwide. ...

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. In 1996, he was awarded the

William H. Twenhofel Medal The William H. Twenhofel Medal is the highest award given by the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM). It was instituted in memory of William H. Twenhofel and is awarded annually to a person for his or her "Outstanding Contributions to Sedimentary ...

, which is the highest award given by the

Society for Sedimentary Geology The Society for Sedimentary Geology is an international not-for-profit, scientific society based in the US state of Oklahoma. It is commonly referred to by its acronym SEPM, which refers to its former name, the Society of Economic Paleontologists a ...

. Also in 1996, Murray and his wife, Sally, created the Grover E. Murray Education Award. Funded by Murray, the

AAPG The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is one of the world's largest professional geological societies with about 17,000 members across 129 countries. The AAPG works to "advance the science of geology, especially as it relates to ...

Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator Award is also named in his honor.Award:Educator
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References

External links

Texas Tech University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Grover 1916 births 2003 deaths People from Newton, North Carolina Presidents of Texas Tech University 20th-century American geologists People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana People from Lubbock, Texas People from Maiden, North Carolina Louisiana State University faculty 20th-century American academics