Department News

MCB Faculty Andrew Murray Awarded Prestigious Appointment as Harvard College Professor

MCB Faculty Andrew Murray Awarded Prestigious Appointment as Harvard College Professor

MCB faculty Andrew Murray is one of the five professors from across FAS to be named a 2021 Harvard College Professor. The Harvard College Professorships are five-year appointments that are awarded to faculty who excel in teaching undergraduates and promoting a positive teaching culture at the college.

Murray’s accomplishments include creating and teaching the course LS50: Integrated Science, which emphasizes the connections between concepts from biology, chemistry, physics, and computer science.

“I’m both honored and humbled to receive this award,” Murray told The Harvard Gazette. “I treasure teaching for many reasons: the excitement of passing on knowledge, the ability to stimulate and inspire the remarkable students who come to Harvard, and the terrifying 2 AM moments when you realize that you don’t actually understand a topic that you are supposed to explain at 10 AM and that it’s suddenly time to learn it yourself!”

During their five-year appointment, Harvard College Professors receive research funding and a semester of paid leave in support of a special project. Murray is considering writing a book called More Advice to a Young Scientist. “When I was in high school I read and was inspired by Advice to a Young Scientist, which was written by Peter Medawar, an English scientist and writer,” Murray says. “I suspect we could use a 21st century version that acknowledges the web, social media, and the need for our community to mirror the diversity of the population that supports it.”

Andrew Murray

Andrew Murray