Richard Murray taught political science at the University of Houston from 1966 until his retirement in 2021 from a 55-year teaching career in the University of Houston Department of Political Science. He is now Senior Research Associate with the Hobby School, and has consulted on more than two hundred political campaigns. Professor Murray has written extensively in these areas including co-authoring Texas Politics: An Introduction (6 Editions, 1972-1992), and Progrowth Politics: Change and Governance in Houston (1991).
Murray co-founded the Center for Public Policy in 1981, as part of UH College of Liberal Arts, that later became the stand-alone Hobby School of Public Affairs. He is known as a pioneer in the art and science of polling and elections, serving for decades as a commentator and forecaster on election night.
Murray is a native of Louisiana with B.A. and M.A. degrees in Government from Louisiana State University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota.
(Fall 2002, Fall 2003, Fall 2004, Spring 2006, Fall 2006, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022)