When Jerome “Jerry” Murphy EdD ’73—former dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE)—remembers his late wife, Susan Littleton Murphy EdM ’72, he describes someone who never quite “fit the mold.” Growing up without many resources in Jacksonville, North Carolina, she was relentlessly self-taught, devouring books from her favorite spot in a tree near her home. Circumstances prevented her from attending college, but that didn’t stop her from earning her master’s degree in education from HGSE in 1972.
Susan and Jerry met while they were both living in Washington, D.C. At Susan’s first job working for the FBI, she was reported by a colleague for potential un-American activity: reading Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment during a lunch break. The agent in charge kindly helped her find the perfect job for a lifelong avid reader—stacking books at the Library of Congress. After the couple got married, they moved to Massachusetts, where in addition to attaining her master’s, she attended the Radcliffe Landscape Design Program and started a thriving landscape business.
“She was extraordinarily smart. She was self-motivated. If everyone in the room was saying yes, Susan would say no, or vice versa,” Jerry recalls affectionately. “It’s good to have people like that to avoid groupthink. She gave a different angle. She was special in a lot of ways.”
To celebrate the impact Susan, who passed away in 2021, had on his life and on Harvard, Jerry recently established the Susan Littleton Murphy Scholarship Fund at HGSE—to be awarded to nontraditional applicants like his wife. Scholarship candidates may include those without an undergraduate degree, community college graduates, working artists, delayed enrollment learners, and others with unconventional backgrounds.
“She was extraordinarily smart. She was self-motivated. If everyone in the room was saying yes, Susan would say no, or vice versa. It’s good to have people like that to avoid groupthink. She gave a different angle. She was special in a lot of ways.”
— Jerome Murphy EDD ’73
Jerry relied greatly on Susan’s unique perspective and behind-the-scenes support as dean of HGSE from 1992 to 2001, during which time he oversaw a dramatic expansion in master’s programming, strengthened partnerships with Cambridge and Boston, and led a successful capital campaign that raised what was then the largest amount ever by a school of education, including $11 million for financial aid. “She gave a lot to Harvard,” he says. “I couldn’t have done it without her.”
Jerry, who served as the Harold Howe II Professor of Education at HGSE—renamed the Jerome T. Murphy Professorship of Education upon his retirement—believes the scholarship’s focus on nontraditional students will benefit both the recipients and the School. “Somebody who comes at an issue from a different angle can add a different perspective on the discussion. For me, Susan exemplified that,” he says.
He intends to support the scholarship with an annual gift for the remainder of his life, followed by a bequest from his estate. “It helps for people to have a sense of purpose in life and a sense of what they can do to make this very complicated world a better place,” he says. “And one way is by investing in institutions that are focused on doing things to help people succeed in the world.”
As is often the case, Jerry’s gift is more than just a scholarship. It is a quiet thank you—a love letter to Susan—and a call to make space for all the dreamers out there who see what others don’t and work hard to make things better.