Elwood Murray
Encyclopedia
Elwood Murray was an American administrator and scientist in the field of speech communications and general semantics
.
. He obtained a B.A.
degree in 1922 from Hastings College
, with majors in English
and American History and received his M.A.
in 1924 in Education and Speech
at the University of Iowa
and Ph.D.
in Speech and Psychology
from the University of Iowa
in 1931.
In 1931 Murray began teaching Speech at the University of Denver
. From 1932 until his retirement in 1962 he directed the School of Speech at the University.
In 1949 he initiated the founding of the National Society for the Study of Communication, and served as its president in 1953. End 1950s he was among the first members of the Society for General Systems Research
. He served as director of the Institute of General Semantics
from 1967-1969.
and communications theory. In 1939 he participated in the first of his five seminars with Alfred Korzybski
in Chicago. Jointly with Marjorie Kendig
he programmed the 1942 and 1950 congresses in general semantics
held at the University of Denver.
In 1952 Murray wrote Integrative Speech, which was one of the first textbooks to introduce general semantics in the teaching of communication.
Later according to Brownell (1979), "Murray founded the Interdisciplinary Analogue Laboratory which was designed to identify analogous structures occurring in different fields of education. These basic structures could then serve as foundations of an integrated curriculum where students would be encouraged to view their subjects of study relationally".
General Semantics
General semantics is a program begun in the 1920's that seeks to regulate the evaluative operations performed in the human brain. After partial program launches under the trial names "human engineering" and "humanology," Polish-American originator Alfred Korzybski fully launched the program as...
.
Biography
Elwood Murray was born in 1897 and raised on a farm near Hastings, NebraskaHastings, Nebraska
Hastings is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. It is the principal city of the Hastings, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Adams and Clay counties. The population was 24,907 at the 2010 census...
. He obtained a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in 1922 from Hastings College
Hastings College
Hastings College is a private, undergraduate, four-year, residential liberal arts college in Hastings, Nebraska, USA.- History :The college was founded in 1882 by a group of men and women seeking to establish a Presbyterian college dedicated to high academic and cultural standards...
, with majors in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
and American History and received his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in 1924 in Education and Speech
Speech
Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...
at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Speech and Psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
from the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in 1931.
In 1931 Murray began teaching Speech at the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
. From 1932 until his retirement in 1962 he directed the School of Speech at the University.
In 1949 he initiated the founding of the National Society for the Study of Communication, and served as its president in 1953. End 1950s he was among the first members of the Society for General Systems Research
Society for General Systems Research
The Society for General Systems Research is predecessor of the current International Society for the Systems Sciences , known to be one the first interdisciplinary and international co-operations in the field of systems theory and systems science...
. He served as director of the Institute of General Semantics
Institute of General Semantics
The Institute of General Semantics is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1938 by Alfred Korzybski, to support research and publication on the topic of General Semantics. The Institute publishes Korzybski's writings, including the seminal text Science & Sanity, and books by other authors...
from 1967-1969.
Work
Murray participated in numerous conferences, presenting papers on general semanticsGeneral Semantics
General semantics is a program begun in the 1920's that seeks to regulate the evaluative operations performed in the human brain. After partial program launches under the trial names "human engineering" and "humanology," Polish-American originator Alfred Korzybski fully launched the program as...
and communications theory. In 1939 he participated in the first of his five seminars with Alfred Korzybski
Alfred Korzybski
Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski was a Polish-American philosopher and scientist. He is remembered for developing the theory of general semantics...
in Chicago. Jointly with Marjorie Kendig
Marjorie Kendig
Marjorie Kendig Gates , best known as M . Kendig, was an American administrator, director of the Institute of General Semantics from 1950 until 1965, and co-worker of Alfred Korzybski who completed his collected writings after Korzybski's death in 1950.Marjorie Kendig was one of the founders of the...
he programmed the 1942 and 1950 congresses in general semantics
General Semantics
General semantics is a program begun in the 1920's that seeks to regulate the evaluative operations performed in the human brain. After partial program launches under the trial names "human engineering" and "humanology," Polish-American originator Alfred Korzybski fully launched the program as...
held at the University of Denver.
In 1952 Murray wrote Integrative Speech, which was one of the first textbooks to introduce general semantics in the teaching of communication.
Later according to Brownell (1979), "Murray founded the Interdisciplinary Analogue Laboratory which was designed to identify analogous structures occurring in different fields of education. These basic structures could then serve as foundations of an integrated curriculum where students would be encouraged to view their subjects of study relationally".
Publications
- 1937, The Speech Personality. Lippincott.
- 1952, Integrative Speech Dryden Press.
- 1969, Speech: Science-Art. Bobbs-Merrill.
External links
- Elwood Murray Collection at the University of Denver.