Albert T. Murphy

Albert T. Murphy passed away June 26, 1998.

Eugene Cooper wrote in a personal correspondence, August 2, 2003:

I considered Al Murphy one of my mentors back in the late 50s - he was a "client oriented" (one of the Carl Rogers supporters) and was influential in my thinking with his Murphy and FitzSimmons text that was titled something like Stuttering and Personality Dynamics. He spent most if not all his career at Boston University and was associated with the special education programs there. In the 60s and 70s I was on ASHA panels with him and came to admire him for his depth of understanding and compassion for those who stutter.

Murphy's obituary was in the Boston University Newsletter, BU Bridge, Week of 18 September 1998 Vol. II, No. 6 URL http://www.bu.edu/bridge/archive/1998/09-18/obituary.html as follows:

Boston University Professor Emeritus of Special Education Albert T. Murphy, a nationally recognized psychologist and expert in speech disorders, died in Burlington, Mass., on June 26.

A resident of Sarasota, Fla., Murphy spent more than 40 years at Boston University, retiring in 1991 as SED professor of education and SAR professor of speech and language pathology. During that time his writings contributed particularly to the literature on stuttering and the counseling of parents of handicapped children.

Murphy served as president of the Mass. Speech-Language Hearing Association and as consultant to Mass. and R.I. Departments of Education and Mental Health, the Joseph P. Kennedy Hospital, the Veterans Administration, United Cerebral Palsy, National Association of Retarded Citizens, the World Health Fund, the Speech Foundation of America, and the U.S. Office of Education, Bureau of Education of the Handicapped.

Born in Boston, Murphy grew up in Somerville. A veteran of World War II, he earned five Distinguished Flying Crosses and 17 Air Medals during 114 combat missions as a dive-bomber pilot in the Marine Air Corps.

He is survived by his wife, Therese (Landry) Murphy; his three sons, Mark T. of Arlington, Steven N. of N.H., and Scott R. of Lexington; a sister, Mary Connors of Reading; two brothers, Joseph E. of N.J. and Charles E. of Calif.; and three grandchildren.


An audioclip of one of Albert Murphy's speeches is online on the "Voices: Past and Present site.


added August 3, 2003