Biographies

Mr. Patrick J. Murphy was appointed as the 32nd Under Secretary of the Army and Chief Management Officer (CMO) by President Obama on Jan. 4, 2016. Mr. Murphy assumed duties as the Acting Secretary of the Army three days after being sworn-in and remained in the position until May 18, 2016. In this position, he led the management and operation of the Army, which would rank as a Fortune 10 company if it was a public company. His focus was on dynamic and efficient business operations, transforming the Army to be more innovative and responsive, expanding the Soldier for Life initiative, public-private partnerships, and aggressively utilizing social media to tell the Army story to new audiences in a more compelling way.

Prior to his confirmation, Mr. Murphy was a litigation partner and served as an outside general counsel for small businesses at a national law firm. Previously he served as a Special Assistant for the Southern District of New York.

From 2011-2015, Mr. Murphy was a television anchor and contributor to NBC Universal and executive producer for MSNBC’s “Taking the Hill,” a national security policy show which specialized in breaking down the civil- military divide that’s occurred with an all-volunteer force.

From 2007-2011, Mr. Murphy served as the first Iraq War Veteran elected to the U.S. Congress, representing the Eighth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. He served on the Armed Services, Select Intelligence, and Appropriations committees, responsible for the $3.4 trillion budget. He co-authored several initiatives including the 21st Century GI Bill, the Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and Hire Our Heroes legislation. In 2008, he was instrumental in establishing the Washington Crossing National Veterans Cemetery for over 300,000 veterans. He also authored the Improper Payments Bill, which has saved the American taxpayer tens of billions of dollars.

Mr. Murphy, a third generation veteran, was commissioned as a second lieutenant and later served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a criminal prosecutor and as an assistant professor in the Department of Law at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY. Following 9/11, he served two overseas deployments-Tuzla, Bosnia in 2002 and Baghdad, Iraq in 2003-04. While serving in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division, he led a Brigade Operational Law Team (BOLT) and earned a Bronze Star for his service. Overseeing the justice system for the 1.5 million Iraqis in south central Baghdad, he prosecuted two high-level terrorists in Iraq’s highest court.

A former collegiate hockey player, Mr. Murphy is a graduate of King’s College, the University of Scranton ROTC program, and the Widener University Commonwealth School of Law. Besides teaching at West Point, he has lectured at Harvard, Stanford, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Air Force Academy and his alma maters. 

He is married and has two children.