About this Prize
Don Murphy, husband of ACIS Past President Maureen Murphy, was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, and died in New York on March 2, 1986. He received his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and Bachelor of Science degrees in physics and mathematics from Manhattan College in 1958. Like many of his generation, he went to work in defense and aerospace: Ford Instrument, the Republic Aviation Missile Systems Group, the Plasma Propulsion Research Group, and the AOSO and GREB satellite systems. His last position in industry was as a group leader for the manned Apollo mission at the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation.
He left the industry to work in biomedical research engineering, where he was the assistant director of the department at Long Island College Hospital. While he was at LICH, he earned his master of Science degree in bioengineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1968. He was awarded his PhD in biomedical engineering in June 1971 for his thesis, Ectopic Vulnerability Windows of the Cardiac Cycle. He directed the bio-medical engineering program at Long Island College Hospital before he joined the faculty of the engineering department at Hofstra University, where he was teaching at the time of his untimely death at fifty-one.
A fine musician and linguist, a champion sailor and enthusiastic skier, he was an avid yet reluctant traveler who hated being away from his lab. Since he believed that recognition often comes too late for scholars, when he died, it seemed fitting to honor his life with a prize that would recognize the first published book of a scholar.
Prize Committee
Chair: Jay Roszman
Eligibility and Submission Instructions
Books submitted for this prize must have a publication date matching the year of the award (2026). The Donald Murphy Prize is awarded to an author who has published their first scholarly monograph or co-authored book (no more than two authors) with any press. In the case of a co-authored book, it must be the first book for both authors. The author(s) may have previously published an edited collection and/or book-length creative work. Edited collections, fiction, poetry, and anthologies of literature are not eligible. Submissions must be in English or Irish. Works originally published in another language and translated into English or Irish will be considered.
No book may compete for more than one of the four disciplinary prizes (Donnelly, Durkan, McCaffrey, Rhodes), but an author’s first scholarly monograph may be submitted to the Donald Murphy prize committee in addition to one of the four disciplinary committees. An Irish-language book may be submitted for a maximum of two of the following awards: the Duais Leabhar Taighde na Bliana (Irish Language Prize), a disciplinary prize, and the Donald Murphy prize if applicable. Committee chairs may choose to reassign entered works to a more appropriate prize if necessary.
The prize includes a cash award of $500 USD. The award money will be split in the case of co-authored texts.
Books may be submitted for consideration by anyone (author, publisher, or other party). All nominations must be submitted through the online form below.
Authors of nominated books are responsible for sending copies of the book to the committee members, whether directly or through their publisher. The addresses of the committee members will be provided to authors when their book is nominated. Hard copies are strongly preferred, but e-copies (such as PDFs) will be accepted if necessary to meet the deadline (especially if your book is scheduled for publication in November or December). Authors are particularly reminded that, whether they mail books themselves or ask their publishers to do so, responsibility rests with the author to ensure that the postmark deadline of January 1, 2027, is observed. Late submissions will NOT be accepted.
For more information, contact the chair of the ACIS awards committee, ACIS vice president Sarah Townsend ([email protected]).