Murray is a home rule-class city in Calloway County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of Calloway County and the 19th-largest city in Kentucky. The city's population was 17,741 during the 2010 U.S. census, and its micropolitan area's population is 37,191. Murray is a college town and is the home of Murray State University.
Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level and graduate courses in Paducah, Hopkinsville, Madisonville, and Henderson.
Joseph Franklin "Jumping Joe" Fulks was an American professional basketball player. The NBA's first scoring champion, he was sometimes called "the first of the high-scoring forwards". He was posthumously enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.
Kentucky State University is a public historically black land-grant university in Frankfort, Kentucky. Founded in 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons, and becoming a land-grant college in 1890, KSU is the second-oldest state-supported institution of higher learning in Kentucky. In fall 2019, total undergraduate enrollment was 2,029 with a total graduate enrollment of 142.
The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 1949, the press was established as a separate academic agency under the university president, and the following year Bruce F. Denbo, then of Louisiana State University Press, was appointed as the first full-time professional director. Denbo served as director of UPK until his retirement in 1978, building a small but distinguished list of scholarly books with emphasis on American history and literary criticism.
Rex Geveden is the president and chief executive officer of BWX Technologies. Previously he was chief operating officer.
Harry Lee Waterfield, an American Democrat politician, he served as the 42nd and 44th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky and unsuccessfully sought election as Governor of Kentucky.
Mel Purcell is a former professional tennis player and coach from the U.S. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 21, achieved in November 1980. Purcell's finest moment was when he reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1983. He was head coach of the Murray State University men's tennis team from 1996 to 2016.
The Murray State Racers are the athletic teams that represent Murray State University (MSU), located in Murray, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) since the 2022–23 academic year. The Racers previously competed in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) from 1948–49 to 2021–22; and in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1933–34 to 1947–48.
Chester Caddas was an American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of the Pacific from 1972 to 1978 and as the interim head football coach Colorado State University in 1981, compiling a career head coaching record of 38–44–2.
Ronald L. Greene was an American basketball coach who served as head coach of three Division I college basketball teams, as well as teams in Division II, the World Basketball League, the American Basketball Association, and high school.
Samuel Kern Alexander Jr. is Professor of Excellence at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he is endowed by the O'Leary Endowment and Editor of the Journal of Education Finance, published by the University of Illinois Press and Project MUSE of Johns Hopkins University.
Carl Rudolph Frederick "Swede" Anderson IV was an American college football coach at Western Kentucky University and Howard Payne University. Anderson graduated from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky in 1924, where he played in the backfield with legendary alumnus Bo McMillin. Anderson then followed McMillin to Centenary College of Louisiana and Geneva College. Anderson then served one year as the head football coach at Western Kentucky, before moving to Kansas State as its freshman team coach in 1930. Anderson returned to Western Kentucky as its head coach from 1934 to 1937. He was the backfield coach under McMillin at Indiana from 1938 to 1945. He then returned to his alma mater, Centre College, where he coached the Praying Colonels until 1950. The following season, Anderson became the seventh head football coach at the Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas and held that position from 1951 to 1952. His coaching record at Howard Payne was 7–10. Anderson died in 1978 of a heart attack, in Oceanside, California.
Steven Jack Rudy is an American politician and agribusiness owner who has served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since January 2005. He represents Kentucky's 1st House district, which includes Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, and Hickman counties as well as part of McCracken County.
The Murray State Racers football team represents Murray State University in the sport of American football. The Racers compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I and the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC).
Rex E. Alexander was a college basketball who was the head coach of the Murray State Racers from 1954 to 1958.
Harlan Crews Hodges was an American college basketball coach and educator. He was the head coach at Murray State (1948–54) and Idaho (1954–59), then became a high school administrator.
Stanley Harold "Stan" Humphries is an American teacher, farmer, and politician. He represented District 1 in the Kentucky State Senate. He was elected in 2012 to succeed fellow Republican Senator Kenneth W. Winters of Murray serving until January 1, 2021. He did not seek a third term in the senate in 2020.
Melvin Henley is an American politician who served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 5th district from 2005 to 2013. He is a graduate of Murray State University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. Henley was first elected to the house in 2004, defeating Democratic incumbent Buddy Buckingham. Henley subsequently changed his party affiliation to the Democratic party on September 14, 2007. He retired from the house in 2012 and was succeeded by Republican Kenny Imes.
