Thomas M. Murray
International expertise in structural steel education and research with significant impact on the economics, design and safety of steel framed buildings
Inducted 2021
Dr. Thomas Murray started his engineering career at Iowa State, graduating with his bachelor’s degree in 1962. He achieved a master’s in civil engineering at Lehigh University and a Ph.D. in engineering mechanics at the University of Kansas.
After his Ph.D., Murray was at the University of Oklahoma for 16 years, followed by a one year at the Air Force Academy as a Distinguished Visiting Professor. He then moved to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where he developed the experimental research laboratory. Murray led the project from first design through complete construction. Within two years, it was the fifth largest structural engineering research laboratory in the nation. His research led him to be an expert in structural steel design. He has been involved in over 130 research projects and is known as the “floor vibration guru.” Floor serviceability became a key point in his research, and his work significantly affected the economics and safety of steel-framed buildings.
Murray authored or coauthored over 200 books, design guides and papers, and 200 research reports, supervised approximately 150 grad student theses and dissertations and made over 250 presentations to structural engineering groups.
Murray has received a number of awards from the American Institute of Construction including the prestigious Geerhard Haaijer Award for Excellence in Education. In addition, he has received teaching awards from the Unviersity of Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. In February 2002, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In 2009, the laboratory he founded was named the Thomas M. Murray Structural Engineering Laboratory.
Murray retired from Virginia Tech in 2008 but continues to consult and teach short courses.