Prof. John F. Murphy (1937-2021)

We are sorry to report the death of Professor John F. Murphy of Villanova University School of Law.

As a younger man, John initially planned to follow his father into medicine. He instead became intrigued with international law.

John earned both his B.A. and his LL.B. degrees from Cornell University. Following law school, John was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship to work in India. Upon his return, John worked at Wall Street firms, and later in the legal advisor’s office for U.N. affairs at the U.S. Department of State, before turning to a career in academia. He began as a law professor in 1969 at the University of Kansas Law School, and ended at Villanova University School of Law, where he had joined the law faculty in 1983, and remained until his retirement in 2014. John also traveled the world to participate in conferences, teaching in Aix-en-Provence, London, Mexico City, Paris, and Haifa, and at Cornell and Georgetown Law Schools, and The Naval War College.

John had been recognized in 2011 with the Louis B. Sohn Award for Public International Law. He authored many law journal articles and books, including The Regulation of International Business and Economic Relations (published in 1991 with the late Alan C. Swan), a legal casebook that was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the American Society of International Law.

His family asks that in lieu of flowers, you should consider a prayer for the betterment of the world, and, when the spirit moves you, to donate to a charity of your choice.

(mew)