Gordon J. Murphy was awarded a B.S. degree in electrical engineering by the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1949. He remained at the school as a member of the faculty until 1951 while pursuing an M.S. degree at night from the University of Wisconsin. In 1951 he accepted a position as systems engineer at the AC Sparkplug Division of General Motors Corporation in Milwaukee, where he worked on research and development of inertial guidance systems, while continuing his graduate studies at night.

He received the M.S degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1952 and then accepted an appointment as instructor in electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota in order to undertake graduate studies there leading to a Ph.D. degree. He was awarded the Ph.D. degree by the University of Minnesota in 1956 and was immediately promoted to the rank of assistant professor of electrical engineering.

In 1957 Dr. Murphy's first textbook, BASIC AUTOMATIC CONTROL THEORY, was published, and he accepted an invitation to join the faculty of the electrical engineering department of Northwestern University as an associate professor. Over the next several years, he introduced and developed many new courses on automatic control. His second textbook, CONTROL ENGINEERING, was published in 1959.

In 1960 he was promoted to the rank of professor of electrical engineering and named chairman of the electrical engineering department.

Over the next several years he conducted further research in the field of automatic control, and a greatly expanded second edition of his first textbook, BASIC AUTOMATIC CONTROL THEORY, incorporating many of the results of that research was published in 1966. Dr. Murphy is also the author of numerous technical papers in various professional journals and of the article on Automatic Control in the Encyclopedia Americana.

Until 1968 his research was focused on automatic control systems. At about that time, his interest broadened to include digital computers and electronics. In 1968 he began a program of research and development that led to the design, construction, and commercialization of a line of electric vehicles.

In 1969 he resigned the chairmanship of the department of electrical engineering and redirected his efforts more heavily into teaching and the practice of engineering. He served as professor of electrical and computer engineering until 1997, when he retired from active teaching and was appointed professor emeritus.

Dr. Murphy was named one of Chicago's Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1961 by the Chicago Jr. Chamber of Commerce and named a Fellow of the IEEE in 1967 for contributions to education and research in the field of automatic control. In 1974 he was given the Outstanding Alumnus Award by the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and in 1991 he was awarded the ECE Centennial Medal by the University of Wisconsin for contributions to the electrical and computer engineering profession. He is listed in WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA, WHO'S WHO IN ENGINEERING, AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN OF SCIENCE, LEADERS IN AMERICAN SCIENCE, THE INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF BIOGRAPHY, THE WRITER'S DIRECTORY, and other biographical reference books.

Dr. Murphy has served as a consultant to the Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, the A-C Electronics Division of General Motors Corporation, Motorola, Inc., the Woodward Governor Company, the Teletype Corporation, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, Snap-on, Incorporated, Snap-on Tools Company, Snap-on Technologies, Inc., R. F. Technologies, Inc., Microsolutions, Inc., Oasis Technologies, Inc., Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., BorgWarner Inc., and many other companies, as well as to the National Science Foundation. He has been awarded 6 patents, in closed-circuit television, consumer products, motion control, and electronic instruments. He was the founder and first chairman of the Minneapolis chapter of the IRE Professional Group on Automatic Control in 1956, and the founder and first chairman of the Chicago chapter of the IRE Professional Group on Automatic Control in 1959. From 1960 through 1968 he served as a member of the IEEE Feedback Control Systems Committee. He was a member of ASA Sectional Committee C85, Terminology for Automatic Control, from 1958 to 1963, and a member of the Education Committee of the American Automatic Control Council from 1967 to 1969. From 1962 to 1968 he served as a member of the IEEE Discrete Systems Committee. He was a member of the Administrative Committee of the IEEE PGAC from 1966 through 1969, Chairman of the Membership Committee of the IEEE PGAC in 1966 and 1967, and Chairman of the Nominating Committee of the IEEE PGAC in 1966 and 1967. He served as a member of the Guidance Committee of the Engineers' Council for Professional Development from 1967 to 1969. He has served as a member of the Industrial Advisory Committee of the Milwaukee School of Engineering from 1971 until 2001, as a director of the NEC from 1983 through 1985, and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Midwest Council of the American Electronics Association from 1990 to 1993.

From 1975 through 2003 Dr. Murphy was president of IPC Systems, Inc., a design and development company specializing in electronic systems. His current interests are in the design and development of microprocessor-based systems for industrial control and communication, digital computer upgrades, and consumer products.

In addition, since 1997 Dr. Murphy has testified as an expert witness in many patent lawsuits.