Keith Murray, Baron Murray of Newhaven

Keith Murray
Born	28 July 1903 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	10 October 1993, aged 90 London, UK
Nationality	British
Education	Edinburgh Academy University of Edinburgh Cornell University

Keith Anderson Hope Murray, Baron Murray of Newhaven KCB (28 July 1903 – 10 October 1993)^[1] was a British academic and Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford.^[1]

Education

Educated at Edinburgh Academy and the University of Edinburgh where he gained a BSc in Agriculture, Murray went into employment with the Ministry of Agriculture from 1925 to 1926. He was then awarded a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship, and spent three years at Cornell University where he was awarded a PhD.^[2]

In 1929 he attended Oriel College, Oxford, and the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (AERI) until 1932.

Career

He became a Research Officer for the AERI, a post he held until 1944. In 1937, however, he was appointed a Fellow and Bursar of Lincoln College, Oxford, as well as being appointed by the University to Oxford City Council. On the death of the Rector J. A. R. Munro in 1944, he was elected to the Rectorship, a position he held until his retirement in 1953. He became the first Rector since Nathaniel Crew not to die in office.^[1]

On his retirement from the Rectorship, Rab Butler, the then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, appointed him Chairman of the University Grants Committee, a post he held for a decade.^[1]

In 1957, Sir Robert Menzies, the Australian Prime Minister, asked him to serve on the Committee on Australian Universities. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 1963 New Year Honours.^[3] He was Vice President of Wellington College (1966–69), Honorary President of the National Union of Students (1967–70).

He was Chairman of the Committee of Enquiry into the Governance of the University of London (1970–72) which produced the Murray Report.^[4] This led to the merger of several of the constituent colleges of the university such as Royal Holloway College and Bedford College under the leadership of their principals Dr Roy Miller and Professor Dorothy Wedderburn.^[4]

He was Chancellor of Southampton University from 1964–74.^[1]

He was Chairman of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 (1962–71).^[2]

He held Honorary Fellowships of Downing College, Cambridge, Oriel College, Oxford, Birkbeck College, London, and Lincoln College, Oxford. On 17 September 1964, he was created a life peer as Baron Murray of Newhaven, of Newhaven in the County and City of Edinburgh.^[5][1]

The Keith Murray Senior Scholarship at Lincoln College is named in his memory.^[6]

References

1. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – subscription based – accessed 1 July 2011
2. Entry in ''Who Was Who'' 2011 on-line subscription version, accessed 1 July 2011. Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved on 2014-06-04.
3. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 42870. p. 3. 1 January 1963.
4. Bingham, Caroline (1987). The history of the Royal Holloway College 1886–1986. London: Constable. pp. 257 et seq. ISBN 0-09-468200-3.
5. The London Gazette: no. 43439. p. 7925. 18 September 1964.
6. Keith Murray Senior Scholarship, Scholarship Search, UK.