Raymond Leroy Murray

Raymond Murray of Springmoor Retirement Community died Wednesday, June 22, 2011. He was born in Lincoln, Nebraska February 14, 1920. His parents were Ray and Bertha Murray. They lived on an acreage in Havelock, a suburb of Lincoln. In two summers Raymond worked in a truck body factory and an aircraft plant. In 1936 he entered Teachers College of the University of Nebraska, expecting to become a high school teacher. However, he became interested in physics, serving as assistant with lecture demonstrations. He received the bachelors degree in Science Education in 1940, with election to honorary societies Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Pi Mu Epsilon, and Phi Delta Kappa. He continued his studies, receiving the M. S. in physics.

Shortly after graduation he was married to Ilah Mae Rengler, a student of Home Economics. He accepted a teaching assistantship in physics at the University of California, and he and Ilah Mae settled in Berkeley. He took two courses under Professor J. Robert Oppenheimer, Electrodynamics and Quantum Mechanics.

His studies were interrupted by World War II. He served in a research program for the separation of uranium isotopes by the electromagnetic method, a project headed by Dr. Ernest O. Lawrence. He was called in 1943 to Oak Ridge, Tennessee to be the supervisor of production operations in one of four buildings built to separate U-235 for the first atomic bomb. He remained in Oak Ridge after the war, heading up service and research groups, while continuing graduate study. He received the Ph. D. in physics at the University of Tennessee in 1950.

By that time Ilah Mae and he had three children, Stephen, Ilah Maureen, and Marshall.

Dr. Murray then accepted a professorship in the Physics Department at North Carolina State College, where he helped build the first university nuclear reactor and initiate the first curriculum in nuclear engineering. He was selected as Head of the Physics Department in 1960.

In 1952 Raymond and Ilah Mae had acquired 60 acres of farmland on the outskirts of Raleigh. They purchased the contents of the Cosby-Heartt house, which was being torn down. The materials were used in the construction of their new home, Murrayhill.

Throughout the academic year 1962-63 Raymond and Ilah Mae traveled in Europe, Africa, and Asia. As a follow up on the Atoms for Peace program, Raymond provided information and advice on nuclear matters.

In 1963, Dr. Murray became Head of the Nuclear Engineering Department at N. C. State, continuing to teach courses in reactor analysis and direct graduate research for two generations of students. During his tenure, a new building was constructed and the Pulstar reactor acquired. He was a consultant to industry and government, including Alco Products on the Army Power Package Reactor, Duke Power Company on its power reactor safety committee.

Dr. Murray was the author of more than 75 technical papers and many books, including Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear Reactor Physics, Physics: Concepts and Consequences, Understanding Radioactive Waste, and Nuclear Energy. Some of his books were issued in several editions and translated into foreign languages. He served for 11 years as U.S. Editor of Journal of Nuclear Energy.

Dr. Murray received many honors, including the O. Max Gardner Award of the University of North Carolina, the Arthur Holly Compton Award and the Eugene Wigner Reactor Physicist Award of the American Nuclear Society. He was selected as Tar Heel of the Week and received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. He was recognized in Who’s Who in America and other biographical publications. After the death of Ilah Mae in 1966, Dr. Murray married Quin Davies Meyer, a social worker with the state. They traveled extensively, played golf, and collected antiques. Her daughter Tucker became his stepdaughter. Quin died in 1977.

In 1979 Raymond married Elizabeth Davis Reid, writer of local history and former Raleigh council member. He acquired three stepchildren, Michael, Nancy, and Jim. Elizabeth and Raymond traveled in Europe, Africa, and Asia and visited the Galapagos Islands. In 2005 they moved from Murrayhill to Springmoor Retirement Community, where they enjoyed the amenities and made many friends.

On retirement from the university in 1980 as Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Engineering, Dr. Murray engaged in consulting. He served Bechtel Corp. in the Three Mile Island recovery program, ensuring that no additional accident would occur. He headed for seven years the North Carolina Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority, which sought unsuccessfully to establish a waste disposal facility. He continued his research in reactor analysis. In behalf of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, Dr. Murray for 18 years provided a lecture at MIT for industry executives.

Raymond was a member of the Raleigh Sandwich Club starting in 1957, and a member of the Carolina Country Club, where he enjoyed playing golf for many years.

Surviving are his wife Elizabeth, his children Stephen of Arlington Heights, IL, Ilah Maureen of Tulsa, OK, Marshall of Novi, MI, his stepchildren Tucker Respess of Charlottesville, VA, Michael Reid of Atlanta, GA, Nancy Reid Baker of Pfafftown, NC, and Jim Reid of Raleigh, NC, eight grandchildren Nicholas, Andrew, Ashley, Alfia, Joshua, Kathryn, Ian, and Ryan, four step grandchildren Saura, Amos, Hannah, and Ben, and 18 great-grandchildren.

The family requests that any donations be made to the Springmoor Endowment Fund or to a charity of one’s choice.

Condolences may be sent to www.brownwynne.com