Msgr. Terrence J. Murphy Presidential Records

Terrence J. Murphy was born on December 21, 1920 in Watkins, Minnesota.  He attended the Archdiocese of St. Paul/ Minneapolis’ minor seminary, Nazareth Hall, graduating from its high school in 1939 and its junior college in 1941.  He then enrolled in the Saint Paul Seminary and was ordained into the priesthood in 1946.

After his ordination, Murphy served at the Cathedral of St. Paul until 1947, when he was assigned to Blessed Sacrament Parish in Belle Plaine, Minnesota.  Murphy served there until 1949, when he was commissioned a chaplain in the United States Air Force.  During his service he was assigned to airbases in England, Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee.  Murphy left active duty in the Air Force in 1954 but continued serve as a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves.  In 1975, he joined the Minnesota Air National Guard as its staff chief of chaplains. When Gov. Rudy Perpich appointed Murphy a brigadier general in 1988, he was the state’s first chaplain to reach that rank.

Fr. Murphy joined the faculty of the College of St. Thomas in 1954.  While teaching in the Religion department, he enrolled in a master’s program in Political Science at the University of Minnesota where he received his M.A. in 1956. He went on to study for his Ph.D. in Political Science at Georgetown University, receiving his degree in 1959.  A book based on his dissertation, Censorship: Government and Obscenity, was published in 1963.

President James Shannon named Msgr. Murphy the Executive Vice President of the College of St. Thomas in 1962. After Shannon was named bishop in 1965, Murphy filled in as president during Shannon’s increasing absences from campus.  With Shannon's resignation as president of CST in 1966, Murphy was named his replacement by the college's Board of Trustees.

St. Thomas saw many changes during the twenty-five years Msgr. Murphy served as its president.  Between the years 1966 and 1991, twelve buildings were either acquired or built at the institution.  The school established closer cooperative programs with the College of St. Catherine and with the Five College Association (now known as the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities).  Murphy oversaw the changes to make St. Thomas a coeducational institution in 1977.

Under Msgr. Murphy's leadership the school expanded academically.  Undergraduate majors doubled and many new graduate programs were added, including a Masters of Business Administration in 1974. Murphy also oversaw the affiliation of the institution with the Saint Paul Seminary and its subsequent name change from the College of St. Thomas to the University of St. Thomas in 1987.

During his tenure as president, Murphy was the member of many organizations including the National Catholic Educational Association, the Association of American Colleges, and the Minnesota Private College Council and Fund. He also served in many administrative positions in the various organizations.

In 1991, Murphy retired from the presidency to become the first Chancellor of the University of St. Thomas, a position he held until his death on February 25, 2004.