Richard M. Murray is a synthetic biologist and Thomas E. and Doris Everhart

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Control & Dynamical Systems and Bioengineering at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

, California. He was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

in 2013 for "contributions in control theory and networked control systems with applications to aerospace engineering, robotics, and autonomy". Murray is a co-author of several textbooks on feedback and control systems, and helped to develop the Python Control Systems Library to provide operations for use in feedback control systems. He was a founding member of the Department of Defense's

Defense Innovation Advisory Board The Defense Innovation Board is an advisory board set up in August 2016 to provide "independent recommendations to the United States Secretary of Defense and other senior DoD leaders on emerging technologies and innovative approaches that DoD s ...

as of 2016.

Education

Murray received a BS in electrical engineering from

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

(Caltech) in 1985. He received a MS (1988) and PhD (1990) from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Career

Murray joined Caltech in 1991 as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. He became an associate professor in 1997, a professor in 2000, and the Everhart Professor of Control and Dynamical Systems in 2006. He was named the Everhart Professor of Control and Dynamical Systems and Bioengineering in 2009. He has served as Chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science (2000–2005) and Director of Information Science and Technology (2006–2009).

Research

Murray is a pioneer of the field of

biological engineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number ...

synthetic biology Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary field of science that focuses on living systems and organisms. It applies engineering principles to develop new biological parts, devices, and systems or to redesign existing systems found in nat ...

and

control theory Control theory is a field of control engineering and applied mathematics that deals with the control system, control of dynamical systems in engineered processes and machines. The objective is to develop a model or algorithm governing the applic ...

including feedback in networked

control system A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial ...

s, biomolecular feedback, engineered biological circuits, and novel architectures. Murray is a founder and steering group member of the Build-a-Cell Initiative, an international collaboration investigating creation of synthetic live cells. He is a co-founder of Tierra Biosciences, for cell-free synthetic biology.

Books

* * * *

Awards and honors

* 2019, John R. Ragazzini Award * 2017,

IEEE Control Systems Award The IEEE Control Systems Award is a technical field award given to an individual by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) "for outstanding contributions to control systems engineering, science or technology". It is an IEEE- ...

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...

* 2013,

for "contributions in control theory and networked control systems with applications to aerospace engineering, robotics, and autonomy". * 2007, honorary doctorate,

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

* 2005–2006, Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Caltech * 1997, Donald P. Eckman Award,

American Automatic Control Council The American Automatic Control Council (AACC) is an organization founded in 1957 for research in control theory. AACC is a member of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) and is an association of the control systems divisions of ...

* 1995, NSF Early Faculty Development Award

References

External links

Lab webpage

Control Theory and Methods - Richard Murray
KISSCaltech lecture
History of robotics interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Richard M. Living people Synthetic biologists American bioengineers California Institute of Technology faculty Year of birth missing (living people) California Institute of Technology alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Control engineering Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences