The Department of History

Brian Phillips Murphy was born in Paterson, New Jersey and graduated from Haverford College in Haverford, Pa. with a B.A. in history. He earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia, where in 2008

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he completed his dissertation, "Empire State Building: The Formation of States and Parties in New York, 1783-1850." He is currently revising that work for publication. Professor Murphy has held fellowships at the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello and the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests are in the political economy of the early American republic. At Baruch College, he has been awarded a Whiting Fellowship for excellence in teaching and a Eugene M. Lang Junior Faculty Research Fellowship. Professor Murphy is a co-director of the Columbia Seminar in Early American History and Culture, and a member of the board of editors of the Papers of Gouverneur Morris.

In 2011, Professor Murphy was invited by the Museum of the City of New York to guest curate an exhibition on the history of banking in New York City. Titled "Capital of Capital: New York's Banks and the Creation of a Global Economy," the exhibition brought together hundreds of objects and artifacts relating to the development of banks and commerce in New York City, tackled the role of the city's banks in causing the 2008 financial crisis and was the first museum installation to link the Occupy Wall Street movement to the long history of anti-bank critiques in American history.

Prior to beginning graduate studies, Professor Murphy worked as a financial and political journalist on the staffs of Money and George magazines, and was the managing editor of PoliticsNJ.com. He has co-hosted and been a guest on numerous television and radio programs, and written for publications from BusinessWeek to The New York Times. Recently he was interviewed for a podcast episode of NPR's Planet Money about the history of American money, titled "The Birth of the Dollar Bill."

In May 2009, Professor Murphy was awarded the Richard L. Morton Award for his April 2008 article in the William and Mary Quarterly, “‘A very convenient instrument’: The Manhattan Company, Aaron Burr, and the Election of 1800.”

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