Dr. Keith Murphy

I worked under Keith when he was Chair of Genetics & Biochemistry at Clemson University. Keith was very supportive of me and my career, and I always appreciated his candor and honesty. He was a straight-shooter and always tried to do right by our department, our faculty, and our students. I will always remember him with fondness and humor.

I recruited Keith to Texas A&M in the department of Pathobiology, and so I remember him in much better times-perhaps his best. He was a very unique-in-a-good-way person, who tried to conceal his kindness and generosity, but it always came through. The esprit de corps in the lab was admirable, and reflected on his abilities as a mentor and researcher. I had not talked to him since the last time several years ago that he came by and visited. Perhaps he preferred to not burden others with his issues. He will be missed.

So very sorry for your loss, thoughts and prayers are with you. Randy & Donna Moen.

I first met Keith in 1980 while he was an undergraduate microbiology major at Indiana University. I had an opportunity to interact with him while I was an Associate Instructor in the Department of Biology. Over a series of courses, I came to appreciate, what everyone who ever met or worked with Keith would quickly appreciate, he had a quick mind, would see connections others would often miss, and pushed the boundaries of whatever project he selected to pursue with a zeal and enthusiasm others could only imagine. Like most graduate teaching assignments one loses track of students as time moves on.

Keith and I became reacquainted when he accepted a position at the Citadel in 1993. We learned that we had similar research interests and embarked on a collaborative project. Unfortunately, given the funding mores of the time neither one of us could pursue the project with the required vigor. However, we continued to talk science and it was at this time that I learned of Keith’s interest in the genetics of canines. I was impressed with his approach to the problem and how quickly he became an acknowledged expert in the field. When Keith and his young family elected to leave Charleston I was sad for the loss, for I valued his counsel and enjoyed our collaborations. However, I recognized that it was an essential decision for him if he was going to be successful as an academic scientist and that he was! He made wise choices as his career took him from Charleston, to Memphis, to College Station, to Clemson and finally to Fargo and North Dakota State University. His outstanding contributions to the field of canine genetics substantially laid the foundation for future investigators in all fields that will toil to advance our understanding of the wonder that are dogs.

Most of all I will miss his energy, enthusiasm and intolerance to the word no. Keith was all about ‘can do’ and that he did. I offer my condolences and prayers to his family with the hope that he may rest in peace

My sympathy to Keith’s family. I had the opportunity to work with him at NDSU and will miss our discussions on genetics and piebaldism in mammals. These past few years I saw how much he invested in students, sharing his intellect and experiences and his willingness to take time for the things that mattered most.

I had the pleasure of working with Keith and his group many years ago on a project to map a dog coat color gene. We had not communicated for some time, but I recently learned of his untimely passing from one of his colleagues, and wanted to offer my condolences to family and friends. I remember quite fondly his “wry sense of humor and demanding sense of values”, as well as an eagerness and enthusiasm for science that was infectious and honest. I know that Keith’s contributions to both science and scientific training will live on.

The Keith I met was not yet an eminent dog man but a freshly minted PhD from LSU who embarked on a post-doc at Northwestern University, where he was hired in part because a recommendation letter aptly called him “a diamond in the rough”. In our first encounter, he was sitting at a desk next to mine, wearing his signature sweatshirt and red UI baseball hat, and for no obvious reason started latching at the decadent, fancy Swiss post doc he thought I was. Instead of frazzling me, this unusual behavior intrigued me. We started hanging out for lunch and in one of these he declared that “this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship”. And such it became. During and after hours, he taught me about all things Americana-for me a steep step up from getting that education by watching the Roseanne show. So, I truly owe Keith my American education, both academic and otherwise. Keith was exceptional in many ways and most notably by combining a good old sense of fun with a Spartan behavior: at the core, he was an athlete with exceptional endurance and tolerance for physical pain, whose biggest wound was to have narrowly missed being selected for the Olympic game. In these years, he also was an American romantic of the highest caliber. As we moved through our careers, we always kept in touch and our paths sometimes crossed: when he was at College Station, I was to Shreveport and this was the opportunity for our families to have several memorable gatherings. And it is at my place that Keith staid when he was getting his liver transplant, and it is may be not by chance that he then got tangled in a time of high drama in my life. This, it should be said, never stopped Keith from being loyal and keeping reaching to me with kindness and humor in spite of his own ailments. It is so sad that he is now gone, it is not fair that he endured so many torments. There was still so much he was striving to accomplish. As the movie goes: “all the moments of our lives will be lost in time like tears in the rain”. But, for the time I still have to stand, Keith will always remain in my heart and mind what he jokingly claimed to be, but actually was: a true Master. I wish I could still say “take care, Keith”.

I worked with Keith at Texas A&M University and I am deeply saddened to hear that he has passed away. I will remember Keith as one of the most passionate and “in love with science” scientists I have met. He was funny and full of bravado- a trait that only partially hid how much he cared for family, friends and students. Keith had a brilliant, quick mind and I will always feel fortunate to have worked with him and learned from him. I am very sorry we lost Keith so prematurely. My husband and I send our condolences to his family and friends.

This is very sad news. I knew and worked with Keith in the late 80s while he was at NW and we had many great times “fighting the establishment” and having successes that many thought were not capable of us since we were black sheep and had the guts to challenge authority. Keith was helpful me getting my first academic position at MUSC in 1994 and we got together often while we were both in Charleston to discuss our visions of academics and love of dogs. I was able to witness his evolution as a canine advocate and genetics expert and still use his success story when I train students in making career choices and “pursuing their passions”. When I was postdocing at UW, I would drive with my dogs out to Laramie to spend time with him and his family and get out to hike and climb. Keith always marched to the beat of his own drum and this did not sit well with many, but was able to back up his ethics and values with evidence and commitment. There was no false bones in his body and I believe this is why we bonded from the start. Rest in peace my friend and I will continue to carry your spirit and hope that you are able to look down and get a laugh when I push the buttons of administrators! Love Rick

I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of Keith’s passing. He worked in my lab (though under someone else’s direction) while a postdoc with the USDA,ARS Arthropod-borne Animal Diseases Research Laboratory in Laramie, WY. We became close friends, and spent a lot of time together outside of work. I have so many funny stories I could share, but one in particular always makes me smile. He came over one day with a bunch of coupons he’d gotten somewhere. Coupons for restaurants, car rentals, lodging…all sorts of things. So he suggested we rent a Cadillac and drive to Kansas City to a baseball game, and then go across the street to the Six Flags amusement park where we would ride the Timberwolf (at the time, the steepest roller coaster in the country) as many times as we could. So Keith had all these coupons that we used for everything on this trip. We had a coupon for this really extravagant breakfast one morning that, with the coupon, came to something like $ 2.56 each. So when the cashier was figuring out our bill Keith stopped him before it was rung up and said, “Hold on a second, here! We should only be taxed on the amount of the sale AFTER the coupon deduction! Don’t be trying to pull a fast one on us and figure tax on the entire amount!” Hahahaha… Then when we went to get into our rented Caddy a “shady” guy asked if we could give him a ride, and Keith— without even knowing where he needed to go— said, “Sorry, we aren’t going that way. Maybe another time.” The guy said, “Oh, okay. Maybe another time.” Our entire adventure was like that. And at the baseball game if we’d have been sitting over just one seat Keith would have won a brand new Ford SUV that was being given away! Just one seat to the left! I heard about that the whole way home, of course. Keith called me one day to ask if $50 each was too much to pay for two dogs (Irish Setters) he’d seen advertised in the Laramie Daily Boomerang. I told him that 100 bucks was a pittance compared to what he would spend over the dogs’ lifetime. Well, he bought and loved those dogs, and eventually spent thousands of dollars correcting their hip displasia. And THAT is what prompted Keith to go into the field of canine genetics…the purchase of those two dogs. The descriptions that others have written about Keith are totally accurate…there is really nothing more to add. His scientific contributions were numerous and significant, and those whose lives he touched will always remember him with the fondest of memories. My deepest condolences to his family.