William P. Murphy Jr.
- Birthdate
- 1923/11/11
- Birthplace
- Boston, MA
- Death date
- 2023/11/30
Biography
William P. Murphy Jr. was born on November 11th, 1923 to William Parry Murphy a recipient of the 1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology for Medicine and Harriett Adams in Boston, Massachusetts. Murphy graduated from Harvard in 1946 and from University of Illinois at Chicago in 1947 with a medical degree. Murphy, with Carl W. Walter, designed a vinyl blood bag in 1949-50 for the purpose of transfusions, which was extensively used in the Korean War.
In 1957, Murphy founded the Medical Development Corporation, later the Cordis Corporation which focused on developing cardiac pacemakers and artificial kidneys. Murphy held 17 patents, was the author of more than thirty medical journal articles, and was the recipient of the 2003 Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2008.
Murphy died on November 30th, 2023.
