Professor Thomas B H McMurry obituary
11 May 1931 – 6 September 2023
Thomas Brian Hamilton McMurry, BA(Mod), PhD, ScD, MRIA, SFTCD was born in Belfast on 11 May 1931, and died peacefully on 6 September 2023 in St Vincent’s University Hospital Dublin with his family by his side. He was laid to rest in the Woodbrook Natural Burial Ground in Co. Wexford.
He was brought up in Dublin, where in 1953 he graduated in chemistry from Trinity College. He obtained his PhD under the supervision of Wesley Cocker, also in Trinity, and in 1959 he was elected a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy. Brian joined the staff of the Chemistry Department of Trinity and his initial research was in the field of natural products when he investigated the chemistry of the anthelmintic santonin.
He later went on to work for a while on the Vitamin B12 project with R.B. Woodward at Harvard. He also worked abroad when he was invited to set up a new Chemistry Department at the University of Lagos as its first professor. Unfortunately, severe political unrest in Nigeria resulted in the university having to be closed down and Brian had to return home early.
He worked for several years on photochemically induced cyclisation reactions, leading to a series of novel highly strained cyclic compounds. More recently Brian, in collaboration with his late colleague at Trinity, Dr. McElhinney, and Dr Margison at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester, developed a new compound that proved to be highly active as an inhibitor for the cancer repair enzyme, MGMT. By inhibiting the natural repair enzyme, the effect of anti-cancer drugs can be significantly enhanced.
The new compound, called Patrin 2, showed great promise as an anti-cancer agent and reached phase two clinical trials on humans. Unfortunately, owing to certain side effects the product never came to the market, but it is still the basis for further intensive research.
As well as his very active academic life, Brian shouldered more than his share of administrative duties. He was one of the first Dean of Graduate students in Trinity, for a time he was Registrar of the College, and as a Senior Fellow he was a permanent member of the Board. He was a council member of the Irish Higher Education Authority.
Probably arising from his time in Nigeria, Brian had a lifelong interest in the welfare of foreign students. He served on the Irish Council for International Students and after his retirement the Brian McMurry Prize was founded, to be awarded to the Junior Sophister Science Student from outside the EU who did best in his or her annual examination.
Brian supervised many generations of PhD students who owe him a great debt, and in his spare time he was a passionate devotee of grand opera. His passing is deeply regretted by his wife Sara, whom he married in 1970 and who was a colleague of his in the Trinity mathematics department. Also, by their two sons, Andrew and Nicholas, daughters-in-law Meggy and Siobhan, grandchildren Sage, Michael and Sadhbh, and his nieces Cara and Fiona. He is sorely missed in the Trinity chemistry department which he served so faithfully for many years.
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