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Today's Featured Biography

 
Michael Murray

After high school, I attended Georgia Tech. I received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1969.

My first professional job was in Detroit doing product research and development. One Saturday night in January 1971, I met my wife Barbara (Bobbie) at a songfest, where we shared a songbook. It was a very improbable meeting, to say the least, but it changed both our lives. We married in June 1972. We have a son and a daughter (both married) and a grandson.

While on my second job in Detroit, I retrained in chemical engineering while working full time. I received a master's degree in chemical engineering from Wayne State University at the end of 1978. By this time there were three of us, and we headed south to a new career and a new life.

We remained in the New Orleans area for 26 years until a lady named Katrina came to visit. New Orleans was good to us in many ways. Our family expanded to four. I added a Doctor of Engineering degree from Tulane (1989) while working full time, and I became licensed as a professional engineer in Louisiana and Alabama. Even a forced job change in 1993, when my previous employer restructured, proved to be a blessing. Three weeks to the day after I received the news, I started with Waldemar S. Nelson and Company, a privately owned engineering and architecture firm.

Our house was damaged by Katrina in 2005, and my job was displaced to Houston for six months afterward. When it was time to go back, we didn't want to. I asked for and received a transfer to my company's Houston office. I became licensed in Texas and North Dakota after transferring.

For two years and four months after Katrina hit, our main activity outside work was getting the house in Louisiana restored and sold. We put about 65,000 miles on the car during that time. Finally, on December 7, 2007, we drove out of New Orleans with the house sold and our daughter finished with college.

We have friends in New Orleans, and we try to make it back once a year. I doubt that we will ever return there to live, however. We love Texas. Texans have a great deal of pride in their history, which includes being an independent country for nine years before joining the Union.

Bobbie and I now live northwest of Houston in The Woodlands.

I worked at Nelson for more than 24 years, rising to Staff Engineer. I served as discipline lead, mentor, project advisor and occasionally as project manager.

I retired in May of this year. My career as an engineer was a great ride. I loved it, especially working with young professionals, but I didn't want to die on the job. I wanted to spend time with Bobbie and the family.

Bobbie and I love to travel. We have been privileged to visit nine foreign countries, as well as 48 of the 50 states. We square dance two to four times a week and have gradually moved up to A (advanced) level.

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