Dr. Murray previously served as Dean of the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) at Harvard University from July 2009 until December 2014. Dr. Murray assumed the deanship two years after SEAS became Harvard’s newest school.
During this formative period she led a strategic planning effort aimed at defining the school’s teaching and research agenda, integrating design and active learning in the curriculum, and supporting diversity and research initiatives.
“I am thrilled to join Fulbright’s board. Opportunities to create a new university ab initio are rare. I look forward to working with President Thuy and her talented team to support an environment where students are empowered and encouraged to engage in broad and deep interdisciplinary study,” Dr. Murray said.
“I am particularly excited by Fulbright’s vision on incorporating the ‘grand challenges’ and opportunities facing Vietnam, its neighbors, and the world, into the student learning experience, so that the university’s graduates are prepared and inspired to help society grapple with these forces.”
Over the course of her distinguished career Dr. Murray has worked in industry, the academy, and the public sector.
During more than two decades at Bell Labs and Lucent Technologies her research resulted in several patents. In 2010, she was appointed by former U.S. President Barack Obama to the U.S. National Commission on the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.
Dr. Murray was also confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science from December 2015 to January 2017.
In this role, she oversaw $5.5 billion USD for the Department’s competitive scientific research, which includes scientific computing, basic energy sciences, biological and environmental sciences, fusion energy sciences, high energy physics, and nuclear physics.
As the Director, she also managed the development, construction, and operation of open-access scientific user facilities, and she managed 10 of the Department’s 17 National Laboratories.
“Cherry embodies the ideals of what we hope to see in our future graduates. She applies her education and research for impactful insights into society, policy advocacy, and for collaborations with leading research institutions and public bodies to better national and international landscapes for science and technology,” President Dam Bich Thuy stated.
“I am excited to have her perspectives and experience as we position Fulbright to best leverage rigorous science and engineering with a liberal arts mindset.”
Dr. Murray has served on more than 80 U.S. and international scientific advisory committees, governing boards, and U.S. National Research Council panels and was the recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation – the country’s highest honor for achievement and leadership in the advancement of science and technology.
She has served as an advisor to the government of Singapore on science and technology policy and currently chairs the Board of Trustees of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) in Okinawa, Japan.
Dr. Murray holds a B.S. and a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
