Dr Murphy was awarded a B.Ed from Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick in 1980, subsequently he obtained a MA in Mathematics and Statistics and a PhD in Statistics from University College Cork.  He was appointed a lecturer in mathematics and statistics at the Institute of Technology, Tralee and subsequently held the positions of Head of Department of Business Studies and Head of Department Business Informatics.  He was appointed Registrar in 2001 and was appointed President of the Institute in 2011.

Dr Murphy has published in Journals and gave presentations at national and international conferences, has also acted as External Examiner for Masters and PhDs at a number of Universities.  He is an active member of a number of Regional and National Advisory Boards.

He was Director of a statistical consulting company and has undertaken research in the area of experimental design.