John M Murphy

Dr. John M Murphy is a Professor of Communication at the University of Illinois' College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. His work focuses on the history of American public address, presidential rhetoric, and civil rights discourse. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas and has received multiple teaching awards including the 2015 Campus Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award and the 2015 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award. His research examines rhetorical strategies of figures like JFK, MLK Jr., Nixon, Clinton, and Obama, with recent projects exploring James Baldwin and Fannie Lou Hamer's civil rights rhetoric.

His research has been published in journals such as Rhetoric & Public Affairs and Quarterly Journal of Speech, and his book John F. Kennedy and the Liberal Persuasion critiques Kennedy's speeches and the liberal tradition. Murphy also contributes media commentary on political rhetoric for outlets like The New York Times and The Conversation USA.

• Education: Ph.D., University of Kansas
• Teaching: Courses include CMN 321 (Strategies of Persuasion), CMN 396 (Rhetoric and the Presidency), and graduate-level seminars in rhetoric
• Affiliations: Professor, Communication

His awards reflect sustained excellence in teaching and scholarship, including the 2004 National Communication Association Golden Monograph Award. Current research projects emphasize the intersection of civil rights rhetoric and political identity formation.