Inducted in 2022
Physician; Reconstructive Surgeon
Healthcare Executive
Co-Founder, International Confederation of Plastic Surgery Societies, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Community Organizer

Though neither an engineer, contractor, nor carpenter, Robert Xavier Murphy, Jr., Fordham Prep Class of 1972, has always been a builder. As one of the top plastic surgeons in the country, Dr. Murphy has dedicated his career to reconstructing lives and giving hope to those whose worlds have all come crashing down. And even beyond the operating room walls, Murphy has brought his time, talent, and expertise overseas and across borders.  Working towards medical education and surgical training reform in underserved countries on every continent (except Antarctica — the penguins are on their own!), Bob Murphy has not only proven himself an incredibly gifted healer, but a “Man for Others” in every sense of the phrase.

Robert Murphy was born in the Bronx in 1955, the son of Robert Murphy, Sr., a construction worker, and Margaret “Peg” McTague Murphy, a teacher. He grew up in Crestwood in Yonkers, and shared his Kennedy Place home with a brother and two sisters: Lawrence, Marianne, and Margaret.  Lawrence would eventually follow in his brother’s footsteps, taking the Harlem Line down to Rose Hill and graduating from the Prep in 1976.

Arriving from the Annunciation School in Yonkers in 1968, Bobby — or “Murf” as he was (and still is) known by his classmates — would straightaway come to embody Prep life — academically, athletically, socially, and spiritually.  A likeable, easy-going, and good-natured honors student at the very top of his class, Murphy was also a standout on the gridiron and the baseball diamond, put in a season with the JV basketball squad, and even rowed during the early-‘70s reboot of the historic Prep crew team. He would serve as class president during his senior year, performed at the annual Christmas Assembly, sang with the Russian Choir, and devoted his time and energy to the service of the community with the Prep’s Christian Action Program — a Maroon classic through and through.

Rounding out his education, Murf spent his teenaged summers alongside his dad, learning various aspects of the construction trades: an experience that helped reinforce his appreciation for hard work and dedication as the foundation of all future undertakings.

Graduating the Prep in 1972 — a Four-Year Distinguished Scholar, a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award Recipient, an All-Conference High School Football honoree, and a member of the ’72 All-City Baseball Team — Murphy would continue at Williams College, earning his degree in 1976 before attending New York University’s School of Medicine, where he completed his MD in 1982.  Dr. Murf would spend the remainder of the decade in residency at various sites including Beth Israel Hospital in Boston; Morristown Memorial in Morristown, New Jersey; Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx; and NYU Medical Center in Manhattan.

A newly-minted surgeon, Bob would embark on a lifelong career at the hospitals of the Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  In addition to becoming a renown plastic surgeon who would even be featured on CNN for his advancements in hand reattachment, down through the decades, Murphy would also serve as a professor of surgery and director of the residency program eventually moving into administrative positions as well — positions including president of the medical staff, chief medical officer, chief integration officer for analytics and insurance, and chief physician executive. Moreover, he has chaired the Network’s Community Health Studies Department and has served on the Veterans Health Initiative, which ensure resources for and promote wellness among the most vulnerable in Allentown and the surrounding areas.

Throughout his long and distinguished tenure in Lehigh Valley, Murphy has built a reputation for his surgical skill, his pioneering research, his leadership, his vision, and most of all, for his concern and compassion — for his patients, for his colleagues, and for all those whom he encounters. Over the years, Bob has been the recipient of scores of awards and citations both at home and abroad, and considers each of them a great honor.  Nonetheless, he considers it an even greater reward to know that he has had a hand in putting hundreds of lives back together.

Outside of Pennsylvania, Murphy has made it his life’s mission to advocate for international cooperation in providing high-quality healthcare — including reconstructive surgery — to all peoples.  He has worked with various agencies and governments to improve medical and surgical training around the globe.  He is a member of the British and Egyptian Plastic Surgery Societies, and was a co-founder of Icoplast, the International Confederation of Plastic Surgery Societies.  In his own words, Robert Murphy has always "been driven by a passion for building things and making things work; particularly things that are potential structures for good."  Certainly, Murf from the Class of ‘72 has helped transform the entire field of plastic surgery — and medicine, in general — to become more fully a “structure for good.”

Robert is married to Margaret “Meg” McGettigan Murphy, a Marymount University alumna and nurse who has joined her husband in medical advocacy and who has been a supporter of the educational institutions that have played an important role in her and her family’s lives. Robert and Meg are the parents of two: Margaret and Shannon.

In testament to Bob’s indomitable spirit and extraordinary talent, Fr. Robert Mahoney, SJ, the dean of studies during Murf’s Prep years, would write: “The two greatest things God can give us are intelligence and a sense of humor — and He’s given you these in abundance.”  Surely, Father could have written no truer words.  

Much was given to the boy from Crestwood, and, indeed, Robert X. Murphy has given much in return —  building a legacy of care and compassion along the way that will live on always.