Dennis D. Murphy

Prof. Murphy joined Georgia Southern University in 1980 and retired in 2020.

— Biography from the 2020 Fall Commencement program —

Dr. Murphy earned his B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Florida (1969). He received his J.D. in 1974; his M.Ed. in Educational Administration in 1975; and his Ph.D. in Educational Administration in 1979 also from the University of Florida. Following service as a U.S. Army commissioned officer, he served five years as a full-time professor at Rutgers University and then 39.5 years at Armstrong State/Georgia Southern University. At heart a student-centered professor, he served administratively as Armstrong’s Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Interim Dean of Enrollment Services, Interim Director of Computer and Information Services, and academic Department Head. During the relatively brief inter-institutional arrangement christened “Georgia Southern University in Affiliation with Armstrong State College and Savannah State College,” he served simultaneously as an Armstrong State College professor and the Georgia Southern University Director of the M.S. in Criminal Justice program. Dr. Murphy passed the separate bar examinations of three states, culminating in admission to the Florida, New Jersey, and Georgia Bars. His undergraduate and graduate courses and his several published articles typically centered on legal issues, and he was never more professionally proud than when a number of his former students went on to succeed in law school and the legal profession. For his many distinguished contributions to the department, college, two universities, and the profession, Dr. Dennis Murphy merits the title of Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice and Criminology.*