Longtime MSOE supporter and community leader dies
| Published: 12/01/2003 |
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Greta Werwath Murphy, the only surviving child of MSOE's founder, longtime university supporter and community leader died Nov. 28. Murphy served the university for more than 50 years in a variety of capacities, often as the first woman to hold such positions, was a nationally recognized public relations practitioner, and a civic leader, including serving as chairwoman of the Milwaukee County Planning Commission.
"Greta Werwath Murphy was a very key individual in the development of MSOE," said MSOE President Hermann Viets. "She was a wonderful lady who served the university in many ways including vice president. As the daughter of Oscar Werwath, she was a personal historical link to our founding 100 years ago."
Born Aug. 24, 1910, in Milwaukee, Murphy was one of four children of MSOE founder Oscar Werwath and his wife, Johanna. She attended Milwaukee University School, Ohio State University, and seminars at University of Wisconsin-Madison and Northwestern University. Murphy once told MSOE's Dimensions magazine that she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps. "I always wanted to study engineering, but never had the time," she said. She did, however, become a Civil Aeronautics Authority Instructor and eventually studied aeronautics engineering at Ohio State University as a special student. She married attorney John H. Murphy in 1941.
She joined the MSOE staff in 1928 as an admissions receptionist, was appointed admissions director in 1933 and director of public relations in 1945. Murphy was a woman of many firsts: in 1948 she became the first woman nominated to the non-profit, non-stock MSOE Corporation board; the first woman vice president (public relations and development) in 1966; and in 1974 became the first woman Regent.
Highlights of her career with MSOE include the administration's adoption of a long-range institutional plan as a policy operation that led to stabilized enrollments from 1948 to 1979. Under Murphy, MSOE conducted ongoing marketing analyses, public relations and information programs designed to create an awareness and understanding of technical higher education in America. She was instrumental in securing a $3.5 million pledge from the Walter Schroeder Foundation for a new library opened in 1980 and a state grant for $1 million toward the land purchase.
A charter member of the national Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), she was elected to its board of directors in 1952 and received its Presidential Citation in 1955. She was a founding member of the Wisconsin Chapter of PRSA in 1951, served as its president in 1957, and received a special service citation in 1960. Murphy was a member of the American College Public Relations Association from 1946 to 1979, serving on its board of directors, as national secretary, a trustee, and was named a life member in 1979. She received the organization's "Award of Merit" for the best story of the year (1949); the first place award for an MSOE 50th Anniversary Catalog (1953); and an award for MSOE's 30 years of pioneering in public relations (1976). In 1949, she was elected a member of the Zonta Club of Milwaukee, an organization of business professionals for the advancement of women. Murphy served as secretary, board member, vice president and president (1959-60). She was appointed regional governor and international director of Zonta International (1961-62).
In 1966, Murphy was appointed to the Milwaukee County Planning Commission, serving as vice-chairwoman in 1974 and chairwoman in 1976. She is a past president of the Woman's Advertising Club of Milwaukee and was named "Woman of the Year" in 1976 by Theta Sigma Phi sorority.
She retired in December 1978, and at the October 1979 meeting of the MSOE Board of Regents, a special resolution of appreciation was adopted in recognition of Murphy's efforts. Murphy continued to serve MSOE as a Regent Emeritus and in 1993, she was the first person to receive an Honorary Doctor of Communication degree from MSOE. In 2001, Murphy gifted to MSOE her home on the shore of Lake Michigan in Belgium, Wis. Murphy House is used by the university as a conference, seminar and retreat center.