The Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies was established at Queens College over twenty years ago with the support of the late Chancellor Joseph S. Murphy. Since, the Institute's Center for Worker Education has initiated new courses and degree programs, developed effective tutoring and counseling models, and grown to serve 20 unions and over 1,200 students each year. The Institute's Center for Labor, Community and Policy has sponsored local forums and national conferences, launched a nationally acclaimed journal, The New Labor Forum, published a widely used anthology on the labor movement (A New Labor Movement for the New Century, Gregory Mantsios, Ed., New York: Garland Publishers, 1998) and has conducted strategic research.
Recently, the Institute has been elevating these activities to a University-wide level and providing unions and their members with a single entry point into CUNY's 1,200 academic programs, 19 campuses, and diverse educational resources. Parternerships with the CUNY's School of Professional Studies, City Tech, and the College of Staten Island have enabled the Institute to create new programs that meet the academic and career advancement needs of working adults and union members.
About Chancellor Joseph S. Murphy
Joe Murphy, the son of a labor organizer and lifelong champion of education for workers, served as chancellor of the City University of New York from 1982 to 1990 and as President of Queens College from 1971 to 1976. As Chancellor, Dr. Murphy left a legacy of deep commitment to working students, including his expansion of adult literacy programs, the introduction of child care services for students, and the establishment of worker education programs. Murphy also created the CUNY Law School, the only law school in the nation dedicated exclusively to law in public interest. Internationally, he had a long history of humanitarian and educational work in Africa, particularly in Ethiopia where he once served as the director of the Peace Corps. From 1990 until his untimely death in 1998, Dr. Murphy continued to teach undergraduate and graduate political science courses at the City University and devoted much of his time to teaching union members at CUNY worker education programs. By taking his name, the Institute honors the work and lifetime achievements of Joseph S. Murphy.