PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Robin R Murphy

Also known as Robin Roberson Murphy, Robin R. Murphy, Robin Murphy

Robin R Murphy's research applies artificial intelligence and robotics to disasters. After a computer science PhD at Georgia Tech in 1992, she began disaster robotics research in 1995, motivated by the Oklahoma City bombing. After the 9/11 attacks, her team worked at Ground Zero for 12 days, and she directed the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue from 2002 to 2018. She arrived at Texas A&M in 2008, and ACM and AAAS later named her a Fellow. She retired from Texas A&M in May 2025 and holds a courtesy professorship at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute.

Works
492
Citations
15,254
h-index
59

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.

Photo of Robin R Murphy

Timeline

  1. 1980–1992

    Georgia Tech degrees

    She earns a mechanical engineering degree at Georgia Tech in 1980 and a computer science PhD there in 1992.

  2. 1995

    Starting disaster robotics research

    She begins disaster robotics research in 1995, motivated by the Oklahoma City bombing.

  3. 2001–2018

    Robots at Ground Zero

    After the 9/11 attacks, her team works at Ground Zero for 12 days. She directs the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue from 2002 to 2018.

  4. 2008

    Moving to Texas A&M

    She arrives at Texas A&M in 2008, where her research applies artificial intelligence to disasters.

  5. 2015

    An ACM humanitarian award

    In 2015, ACM honors her with the Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions.

  6. 2019–2021

    ACM and AAAS fellowships

    ACM names her a 2019 Fellow for contributions in founding and advancing the field of computing for disasters and robotics. AAAS names her a 2021 Fellow for founding the search-and-rescue robotics field.

  7. May 2025

    Retiring from Texas A&M

    She retires from Texas A&M in May 2025 and remains active in research and field work.

  8. As of October 2026

    A courtesy professorship at Carnegie Mellon

    She holds a courtesy professorship at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University.

Sources and credits

Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.

  1. Robin Murphy - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Robin Murphy-Department of Computer Science and Engineering people.engr.tamu.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Robin Murphy: Roboticist to the Rescue - IEEE Spectrum spectrum.ieee.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Robin Murphy-Department of Computer Science and Engineering people.engr.tamu.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. ACM honors Murphy for work in humanitarian disaster response | Texas A&M University Engineering engineering.tamu.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Congratulations to the 2019 ACM Fellows - CRA cra.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. Murphy named fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science | Texas A&M University Engineering engineering.tamu.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  8. Robin Murphy-Department of Computer Science and Engineering people.engr.tamu.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  9. Prof. Dr. Robin R. Murphy - Workshop Series: Advanced Robotics and AI for Autonomous Systems | Fırat University rai.firat.edu.tr. Checked 14 October 2026.