During Murphy's time teaching at San Jose State University, he ran a community mental health program that tasked students to help patients released from asylums that were closed by then Governor
Ronald Reagan. In 1976, Murphy and
John Sperling co-founded the University of Phoenix. He served as the senior vice president for institutional affairs and academic vice president where he was tasked with government affairs and accreditation for the school. Murphy resigned from his position in 1997 due to "philosophical disagreements over the direction of the school".
Bibliography •
Jury Rigging in the Court of Public Opinion (2007) •
Mission Forsaken: The University of Phoenix Affair with Wall Street (2013) •
American Incendiary Populism (2020) ==Personal life==