Bruce C. Murray

Seated on left with other Planetary Society Founders and enthusiasts in the 1970s.

Main career At Caltech, Murray became an associate professor in 1963, a full professor in 1969, and a professor emeritus in 2001. He would later become professor emeritus of planetary science and geology.

Murray began working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (managed by/affiliated with Caltech) in 1960, and served as its director from April 1, 1976, to June 30, 1982. He was an important force in promoting the recruitment and hiring of female engineers at the lab, where more women are employed today than any other NASA facility. Murray became JPL's director at a time when space exploration budgets were shrinking; among other achievements, he saved the Galileo mission to Jupiter from the budget axe.

In 1971, he participated in a symposium on the occasion of the arrival of Mariner 9 to Mars, together with Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Carl Sagan, and Walter Sullivan. Their discussions were recorded in the book Mars and the Mind of Man.

With Carl Sagan and Louis Friedman, Murray founded The Planetary Society in 1980. He also served a term as its chair.

Personal life and death Murray was twice married. With his first wife, Joan O'Brien, he had three children. Murray and O'Brien divorced in 1970. In 1971, Murray married Suzanne Murray, with whom he had two children.