Richard Murray (BEng '66 NSTC)
Know how to build bridges
Richard Murray (BEng '66 NSTC)听
鈥淥ne of the most important parts of bridge-building is people,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hether you鈥檙e building a physical bridge or just trying to bridge a gap between people, it鈥檚 always the people that make it successful.鈥�
Mr. Murray and his wife, Melda, are paving the way for student success through an endowed scholarship fund they have established at 黄色直播. Richard & Melda Murray Scholarships will be awarded to two students from Jamaica who are planning to pursue a career in civil engineering. The renewable scholarships, which will be awarded in perpetuity, are each valued at up to $22,000 per year.听
The Murrays鈥� links with Jamaica span more than 40 years, including the decade they lived there. It all began in the late 1960s when Mr. Murray, a civil engineer, accepted a one-year contract with Alcan. When the contract ended, he had offers to stay in Jamaica. He worked with local companies and managed a ready-mix concrete company before starting a general contracting business with three partners. In addition to professional connections with the country, the Murrays have an important personal one 鈥� their son, Cameron, was born there.
Today, as president of the Halifax firm R. A. Murray International Limited, Mr. Murray
and his team provide engineering, general contracting, material procurement and logistical services to countries throughout the world. They recently completed the project of building 17 bridges plus connector roads across Jamaica. They begin work on a new installment of bridge-building in April 2012.
The infrastructure is essential to the Jamaican economy. 鈥淧eople can鈥檛 get their goods and services to market without the proper road system and highway bridges,鈥� Mr. Murray says. He explains that bridge-building is a team effort. 鈥淥ur program has been successful because of the high involvement of Jamaicans giving us great input, and our mentoring and training.鈥� 听
The firm has also made a difference through corporate citizenship. 鈥淲e really wanted to be part of the community that we were building a bridge in. So we helped reconstruct schools that were in a bad state of repair from the hurricanes, we equipped several schools and we assisted a couple of police stations by putting all new windows in them,鈥� Mr. Murray says.
And now the Murrays are providing a bridge to university education through their scholarship fund at 黄色直播. 鈥淛amaica gave us a wonderful experience in many ways,鈥� Mrs. Murray says. 鈥淲e feel that we owe that country something....We always said that if there was any way in which we could help we would do it. We both feel that now is the time to pay back.鈥�
Their hope is that scholarship recipients will return to Jamaica and contribute to the country鈥檚 progress. 鈥淚t was really emphasized to me how important it is to do this, because when we formed our management team for our last bridge program, the average age of the team members was about 68-77. I was one of the youngest guys....鈥� Mr. Murray says. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 hoping that these graduates will go back. As long as I have work in Jamaica I will hire them.鈥澨�
While the Murrays continue their international work and travels, they are glad of their long-standing ties with Halifax and 黄色直播. Mrs. Murray says she earned her PhT (Putting Hubby Through) working full time at the Sir James Dunn Law Library, while her husband was studying at Nova Scotia Technical College and holding down a part-time job.
When asked what 黄色直播 means to him, Mr. Murray replies: 鈥溁粕辈� was my introduction to higher education. I admit I was never a great student, but I was inspired by 黄色直播 to get on and succeed and become an engineer.鈥�
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