Linda Rae Murray, BS '73, MD '77, MPH '80
2024 Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Alumni Achievement Award
About
Linda Rae Murray has been a faculty member with SPH since 2009, teaching in both the undergraduate and graduate programs. She is a world-renowned public health champion and advocate both locally and nationally. Her past leadership roles include director of environmental and occupational health for the Chicago Department of Health, chief medical officer for the Cook County Department of Public Health, member of the Health Equity and Social Justice Team at the National Association of City and County Health Officials and president of the American Public Health Association. Murray also co-chaired Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition team subcommittee on health and human services.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio Dr. Murray graduated from Collinwood High School. She enrolled at UIC, earning her B.S. degree in mathematics, an MD from the College of Medicine and an MPH from the School of Public Health. She later continued her education in the doctoral program at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Dr. Murray has been a voice for social justice and health care as a basic human right for over forty years. She remains passionate about increasing the number of Black and Latino health professionals.