|
|
||
|
|
|
|
Murray remembered for engineering contributions
Known for being humble and generous, Dr. David W. Murray, a civil engineering professor with the Department for almost 50 years, lost his battle to Lewy Body Disease and passed away this summer - just days before his 80th birthday.
A native of Calgary, David completed his bachelor’s in civil engineering at the University of Alberta in 1952 and, thanks to receiving the Athlone Scholarship, earned his MSc at the Imperial College in London, England in 1954. He married Pearl in 1956, who was his life companion for the next 54 years. His journey as a professor at the University of Alberta began in 1960. A few years after joining the Department, and with four young children in tow, David went on to complete his PhD at the University of California in Berkeley.
Studying abroad instilled in David a love of travel. Throughout his career, he invariably spent his sabbaticals abroad. “Our family saw a lot of the world because of him and his work,” says Pearl. “We lived in Wales, Brazil and Germany – we travelled Europe from London to Istanbul and visited places like Machu Picchu in Peru. When we first were married, I was a farm girl who had never been beyond Alberta's borders! I can't believe how fortunate I have been to see the world as our family did.”
David's early academic career focused on Finite Element Analysis. After serving as Chair of the Department from 1982 to 1987, David returned to research and took up pipeline structural analysis.
“After his term as Chair, David experienced a renaissance in his research,” comments Roger Cheng, current Chair of the Department. “He really created a whole new area of research for our Department – and he made most of his contribution in this area after he had technically retired, as a Professor Emeritus.”
David taught graduate students from all over the world including India, Egypt, Iran and China. His long international collaboration was with the Civil Engineering Department at Pontificia Universidade Catolica (PUC) in Rio de Janiero. He cooperated with researchers in Brazil for over 15 years, supervised several Brazilian graduate students and had several extended visits to Rio de Janiero. PUC recognized his contribution to their PhD program by awarding David an honorary professorship in 1991.
David's last graduate student defended his thesis in 2008, marking David's 48th year with the U of A Civil Engineering Department.
“His lifelong commitment to research and teaching, his world experiences that he shared with his family, I think it's a powerful example of a life well lived,” say his wife Pearl. She is currently writing a book about his legacy, to celebrate his life.
----- From the University of Alberta newsletter, Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Page 161 / 220