Cornelius B. Murphy Jr.

Prior to being President of SUNY-ESF, Neil held various positions at O’Brien & Gere starting out as a Laboratory Technician in June 1970 and working his way up to President in 1993 and Chairman of the Board in 1998. 

He is an advisor to or board member of the following: Upstate Medical University Foundation; CenterState CEO; University Hill Corporation; CNY Biotech Accelerator; Syracuse Center of Excellence; Audubon New York; Commission for New York State Parks & Recreation; Syracuse 20/20; Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee for the USDA & USDOE; Central New York Regional Economic Development Council; Say Yes Syracuse Scholarship Governance Board and the Onondaga Environmental Institute Board. Neil also serves as Vice Chair of University Hill Corporation and Co-Chair of Consensus. 

His technical expertise lies in the areas of environmental science and engineering, hazardous waste management, renewable energy systems, limnology, urban runoff planning, and industrial wastewater treatment. 

Neil belongs to various professional affiliations including the American Chemical Society, Environmental Chemistry Division; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Water Environment Federation, Pollution from Non-Point Sources Committee (former chairman), and Acid Precipitation Committee; New York Public Consultation Panel of the International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes’ “Pollution from Land Use Activities” Reference Group, the American Management Association and the New York Academy of Sciences. 

Senior Fellow for Environmental and Sustainable Systems, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, January, 2014 – current; President, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 2000-2013; (Honorary) Doctor of Science, Onondaga Community College, 2013; (Honorary) Doctor of Science, Clarkson University, 1997; School of Management, Syracuse University, 1972-74; Ph.D., Chemistry, 1970, Syracuse University (NASA Fellow); B.A., Chemistry, 1966, St. Michael’s College, Magna cum laude; Summer intern Brookhaven National Laboratory, NSF Trainee, 1964, Clark University.