William P. Murphy Jr.

William P. Murphy Jr. (born 1923) is the son of the American physician William Parry Murphy who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1934.

Murphy graduated from Harvard University in 1946 with a major in pre-medicine and a minor in architecture. He received his M.D. in 1947 from the University of Illinois and also studied physiologic instrumentation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His combined passion for mechinery and medicine led to many successful medical devices and he revolutionized the biomedical industry. Murphy owns several patents; his inventions include significant improvements on the early cardiac pacemakers, artificial kidneys, cardiac catheters and disposable medical trays.

In collaboration with Dr. Carl Walter he developed a flexible sealed blood bag used for blood transfusions. The blood bag was used for the first time during the Korean War, where Murphy took the device to the battlefields and created a simple system for rapid, air-free transfusions.

The Army hired Murphy as a consultant, and he performed myriad transfusions on wounded soldiers at the front lines. He also experienced in the Korean War that medical instruments were often damaged or inadequately sterilized. He therefore designed a series of inexpensive medical trays equipped with drugs and sterilized tools that could be discarded after use, reducing cross-contamination of patients.

Murphy founded his first company, Medical Development Corporation, in 1957 in his garage and he focused on developing medical instrumentation. In 1959, the company evolved into Cordis Corporation, (now Cordis Johnson & Johnson) which he led as President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at various times during his 28 years at Cordis until his retirement in October 1985.

He co-authored nearly 30 medical publications and helped to establish several professional organizations such as FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a non-profit group dedicated to inspiring young people's interest in science, technology and engineering, founded by his friend Dean Kamen. Often recognized for his many achievements, he has received countless awards including the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award, the Distinguished Service Award of the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology (1985), American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering Founding Fellow (1993) and the FIRST Founder’s Award (2000).