Kenneth Murray (biologist)

Kenneth Murray
File:Kenneth Murray (1983).jpg Kenneth Murray (1983)
Born	(1930-12-30)December 30, 1930 Yorkshire
Died
Nationality	British
Fields	Molecular biology
Institutions	University of Edinburgh
Alma mater	University of Birmingham (BSc, PhD)
Notable awards	FRS
Spouse	Noreen Murray

File:Kenneth and Noreen Murray.jpg

Kenneth and Noreen Murray

Sir Kenneth "Ken" Murray FRS FRSE FRCPath (30 December 1930 – 7 April 2013) was a British molecular biologist and the Biogen Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Edinburgh. His wife was Lady Noreen (née Parker), also a biologist. He was one of the founders of Biogen.

The team of Kenneth Murray developed the vaccine against hepatitis B. This was the first vaccine made using genetic engineering. Kenneth Murray was also founder and Chairman of the Darwin Trust of Edinburgh, a charity supporting young biologists in their doctoral studies.

Education and career

Murray achieved a 1st class honours degree in chemistry followed by PhD from the University of Birmingham. From 1960 to 1964 he was a researcher at Murray Luck's laboratory at Stanford University and from 1964 to 1967 he was a researcher at Fred Sanger's laboratory at Cambridge University. In 1967, he was appointed lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and in 1976 he became Head of Molecular Biology. In 1984 he was appointed Biogen Professor of Molecular Biology, a post which he retained until his retirement.

Personal life

Murray was born in Yorkshire and brought up in the Midlands. He left school at the age of 16 to become a laboratory technician at Boots in Nottingham. He studied part-time and obtained a degree in chemistry and then a PhD in microbiology from University of Birmingham.

Sir Kenneth's wife, Noreen, died on 12 May 2011 aged 76.

External links

• Laureation address on Sir Kenneth Murray at University of Dundee - Graduation 2000