Murphy Named 2020-2021 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher by the University of Maryland

Professor Thomas Murphy has been selected as a 2020-2021 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher by the University of Maryland.

The Distinguished Scholar-Teacher program recognizes a small number of faculty members each year who have demonstrated outstanding scholarly achievement along with equally outstanding accomplishments as teachers. Nominees for the award are selected by their peers; the winners are chosen by a panel of former Distinguished Scholar-Teachers.

Murphy studied physics and electrical engineering at Rice University, graduating with joint B.A./B.S.E.E. degrees in 1994. He then studied electrical and computer engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning his M.S. degree in 1997 and his Ph.D. degree in 2001. He was a member of the technical staff at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory from 2001-2002.

Murphy joined the faculty at the University of Maryland in 2002. He is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and in the Institute for Research in Electronics & Applied Physics (IREAP). He has been director of IREAP since 2012.

Murphy's research interests include terahertz and microwave photonics, two-dimensional optoelectronics, integrated optics, nonlinear and ultrafast optics, electrooptics and nonlinear dynamical systems. His research broadly aims to explore new devices and techniques that improve the speed, sensitivity, resolution and efficiency of optical communication and sensor systems.

He is a recipient of a National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Young Faculty award.

Murphy has been recognized for excellence in both teaching and research at UMD. He received a George Corcoran Award from the ECE Department, and he received the Clark School’s Junior Faculty Outstanding Research Award and the E. Robert Kent Outstanding Teaching Award for Junior Faculty.

Murphy is joining a number of ECE Distinguished Scholar-Teachers, including: