
James Edward Murray, Jr., PhD
James E. Murray Jr., Ph.D., is a writer, public intellectual, and policy thinker whose work sits at the intersection of race, lineage, public policy and reparative justice. As a kidney transplant recipient, he writes from intersection of personal stakes and scholarly rigor. His essay “Admissions as Slavery Reparations” was selected for the Macmillan anthology American Literature and Rhetoric, placing his voice alongside Ta‑Nehisi Coates, William A. Darity Jr., and Jason Riley in a definitive national textbook.
His research on genealogical lineage as a constitutionally viable admissions model was formally cited by the American Medical Association’s Council on Medical Education, informing the AMA’s national policy response to the Supreme Court’s ban on race‑based affirmative action. His work now informs diversity‑preserving strategies across 155 U.S. medical schools.
Murray’s writing has appeared in Inside Higher Ed, the Lexington Herald‑Leader, Patheos and multiple academic journals. He has delivered invited lectures at the University of Oxford, James Madison University, Saint Louis University, and Eastern Mennonite University, and has been featured on KBLA’s First Things First with Dominique DiPrima.
A former journalist and podcast host, Murray’s public scholarship blends narrative clarity, ethical seriousness, and historical depth. His work explores the emotional architecture of American life—race, lineage, family, and the long afterlife of slavery—while advancing practical frameworks for reparative justice in higher education.
He is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas (one generation removed from the Arkansas Delta) , and a die hard Nas fan. He holds a PhD in Education Sciences from the University of Kentucky.
Contact:
mailto:jemphd@jamesmurrayjr.com