The Rutgers University Board of Governors appointed professor James A. Murphy, one of the nation’s top scientists in turfgrass management, to the Ralph Geiger Chair in Turfgrass Science.
Murphy is renowned for developing environmentally sound management practices, recently leading a national task force to identify knowledge gaps in how nutrients are transported to streams and groundwater, and coordinating the National Nutrient Management Summit, which drew experts from throughout the United States. He also served as technical adviser to state legislators in New Jersey for the passage of the first and most comprehensive fertilizer law governing nitrogen and phosphorus use on turf in the country.
He is an authority on turfgrass tolerance to traffic stress, cultural management of stress-induced diseases and nutrient management of cool-season grasses. He was elected a fellow of the Crop Science Society of America in 2014 and the American Society of Agronomy in 2015, and he was awarded the prestigious Fred V. Grau Turfgrass Science Award in recognition of his significant career.
The late Ralph Geiger, a strong supporter of Rutgers’ turfgrass program, generously provided funds to create an endowed chair in turfgrass science at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences in 2005.