The WUSD 2025 Distinguished Alumni was announced during the June 23, 2025, Regular Monthly Board meeting. His name is David Neil McMurray, PhD and he is a 1960 graduate from Watertown High School.
Following his graduation from Watertown High School, McMurray attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned a BS degree in Chemical Engineering in 1965 and then served for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Kenya. He returned to Madison to obtain MS and PhD degrees in Medical Microbiology and spent four years as a post-doctoral fellow at Tulane University International Center for Medical Research (ICMR) in Cali, Colombia. He was recruited to the new Texas A&M University College of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in 1976 and rose through the ranks to Professor in 1991. He was named a Regents Professor in 2000, and a Professor Emeritus in 2017. McMurray was a founding member of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Nutrition and served as Chair of the Faculty from 1993-96.
During 41 years on the faculty, McMurray taught immunology and microbiology to every medical student who graduated from the College of Medicine. He received several teaching awards and was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators in 2012.
McMurray’s research focused on the mechanisms of vaccine-induced resistance to tuberculosis (TB), using a highly relevant guinea pig model of low-dose pulmonary exposure. His extramural grants and contracts, principally from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), brought in more than $15 million. One of his grants was funded continuously for 24 years. In addition, McMurray collaborated for 25 years on an NIH-funded investigation to elucidate mechanisms by which long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids suppress immune and inflammatory responses. He published more than 220 papers in peer-reviewed journals and trained nearly 50 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. McMurray served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals in his areas of expertise. He was a member of NIH study sections and ad hoc review groups. He served for three years as a member of the VA Merit Review Sub-committee for Infectious Diseases. He reviewed 40 manuscripts per year for several scientific journals.
McMurray was a Consultant for 10 years to the World Health Organization (WHO) and served as the Chair of the Immunology of Mycobacteria (IMMYC) Steering Committee and the Animal Models Task Force.
He traveled to Russia several times as a Technical Advisor to the US government to review US-funded TB research programs. He traveled frequently to other TB high-burden countries (India, China, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Russia, South Africa) to consult with TB research groups.
He was a member of an Expert Panel convened by the Academy of Sciences of South Africa to develop a consensus study of nutritional influences on human immunity in TB and HIV infection.
He was a member of the Tuberculosis and Leprosy Panel of the US-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program for 20 years and served as Chair of the US Panel from 2005-2010.
He served for 10 years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation that received more than $500 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to take a portfolio of promising TB vaccines through pre-clinical development and into human trials.
David and his wife, Lan Ly, reside in College Station, TX. David is the father of 4 children:
Rusty - just graduated from high school and will attend the University of Texas in Austin next fall
Christopher - owns a lodge and outfitters business in Manitowish Waters, WI
Marc - works in retail sales in San Antonio, TX
Michael - is a professor at the University of Colorado Medical School in Denver
There are 6 grandchildren
David retired in 2017 and enjoys fishing, reading, traveling and solving several number and word puzzles each day. He also continues to participate on a couple of committees and give a lecture or two each year at the medical school, as well as, interview 30-40 medical school applicants per year.