Thomas Aquinas Murphy (December 10, 1915 – January 18, 2006) was former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

during the 1970s.

Personal life

Thomas Aquinas Murphy was born on December 10, 1915 in

Hornell, New York Hornell is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Steuben County, New York, Steuben County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 8,259 at the 2020 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early set ...

. He attended

Leo Catholic High School Leo Catholic High School is a private all-male, Catholic high school in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located in the Archdiocese of Chicago and home to a predominantly African–American student bod ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Murphy died in

Boynton Beach, Florida Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is situated about 57 miles north of Miami. The population was 68,217 at the 2010 census. In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 78,679 according to the University o ...

on January 18, 2006. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

. Murphy was married for 64 years to Catherine Rita Murphy; their union produced two daughters and a son.

Career

Murphy began with GM as a clerk in the controller's office after graduating in 1938 from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

with a B.S. in accountancy. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Murphy served in the Navy for three years before returning to work for GM. He moved up the ranks from controller's office, from finance executive: * VP of car and truck operations * VP of GM 1972-1974 He retired from GM as chairman and chief executive in 1980. He continued serving on GM's Board of Directors from 1980 to 1988. His time at GM was when the automaker was still global leader with a record of 9.55 million cars and trucks sold globally (1978). The impact of the oil embargo in the late 1970s hit GM hard, as well as new policy on safety and regulation. GM remained profitable in the 1980s until

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

imports began to up the production and lowered costs. In 2005, GM sold 9.17 million vehicles, the first time since 1978. He is credited with saying "General Motors is not in the business of making cars. It is in the business of making money."

References

External links

Thomas Murphy, 90, Leader of G.M. in 1970's Prosperity, Dies, New York Times Online - January 19, 2006

University of Illinois Alumni Association

Obituary from The Palm Beach Post on Jan. 20, 2006 republished on legacy.com
1915 births 2006 deaths American chief executives in the automobile industry Gies College of Business alumni General Motors former executives {{US-business-bio-1910s-stub 20th-century American businesspeople People from Hornell, New York