* Ph.D. Civil Engineering (Systems), University of Illinois at
Champaign-Urbana, 1967
* M.A. Mathematics, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, 1962
* S.M. Civil Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA, 1958
* BSCE Civil Engineering, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, 1954
Dr. Murphree was the first Director of the Computer Center at the
University of Mississippi, 195962, and directed the transition from
vacuum tube technology to large scale, mainframe operation with satellite
computers at remote locations; and in 1967 led the selection team for the
mainframe computer (Burroughs B5500) for the Department of Civil
Engineering, University of Illinois, and designed and led the
implementation team for a special, time shared operating system for that
installation, one of the earliest successful such systems. Form 1969 to
1975, he was a Division Chief at the U.S. Army's Construction Engineering
Research Laboratory, at Champaign, IL, where he was responsible for the
design and implementation of large scale computer software for managing
the Army's construction programs. Major pieces of that software remain in
use today. For 10 years, from 1975 to 1985, Dr. Murphree was President of
the consulting firm Sage Systems Corporation, which did consulting
worldwide for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization,
Vienna, Austria; the U.S. Government; and various private clients. The
digital computer figured in most consulting assignments, either directly
in the performance of the work or as the object of the study.
During the early 1980's, Dr. Murphree was a pioneer in the use of the
computer for litigation of construction claims, performing mainframe
computer analyses of the performance of a tunnel boring machine in
Montreal, Quebec; construction of the foundation of a large fossil fuel
power plant in Nebraska; buildings in Illinois and Indiana; and an
Interstate Highway segment in Missouri. For the United Nations, he
prepared construction plans, analyzed by computer, for a large ($100
million) ammonia plant, and a bulk seaport in the State of Bahia, Brazil.
For the U.S. State Department, he prepared construction plans with the
aid of microcomputer software for two multistory office buildings, in
South America. He designed a computer based fleet management system for a
firm in Illinois using heavy construction equipment on an emergency,
on-call basis. For a government client, he prepared a Benefit/Cost
analysis for a large computer-based architectural and engineering design
system. For the U.S. Army, he developed a reference system to aid in
compliance with DoD and Army regulations in procurement of large-scale
computer hardware and software systems, and prepared a feasibility study
of computer simulation of built-up roofing systems. He evaluated a
mathematical model of the Military Construction Program, and prepared a
study recommending applications of microcomputers to resource management
in the Engineer Brigade; and, for the U.S. State Department, he set up
computer models to aid in the cost estimates for embassy buildings
worldwide.
Dr. Murphree is Professor and Chairman, Department of Engineering
Management, School of Engineering and Applied Science, George Washington
University, Washington, DC. He earlier held academic appointments in
mathematics and civil engineering (University of Mississippi), and in
civil engineering, industrial engineering and operations research, and
architecture (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). He has been a
registered Professional Engineer in the State of Mississippi since 1961,
and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, where he is a
member of the Construction Research Council, and a former member of the
Electronic Computation Committee and the Microcomputers in Construction
Committee. He is currently a Consultant to the Advanced Technology
Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Dr. Murphree has been honored by election to membership in Chi Epsilon, the Civil Engineering Honorary Society in 1953; the award in 1971 of the Army's highest R&D award, the Department of the Army Research & Development Achievement Award for Technical Achievement; and the award of the Department of the Army Certificate of Achievement in 1975.
Main Faculty Department