Obituary for Edward Murray McKay
EDWARD MURRAY McKAY
After a valiant year-long battle with cancer our dear Murray passed away peacefully at home in New York on January 4, 2022. He was 53 years old.
His husband and devoted best buddy of seven years, Gregory Downer, was by his side.
Murray brought passion and brilliance to every endeavor— designer, performance artist, curator, LGBTQ+ activist. His legacy of twenty-one years as an education enrollment leader is profound. He inspired and guided thousands of gifted international and domestic students to attend art and design college and made possible a vast number of scholarships for those without resources.
For Parsons School of Design/The New School, Murray opened a new Paris campus in 2015. For Drexel University as Assistant Dean of Recruitment and Retention of Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, he innovated marketing presentations. Most recently at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Murray revamped the admission suite of marketing materials and served in an interim senior leadership role on the executive team during the early days of the pandemic.
Murray had a longstanding involvement with NAFSA: Association of International Educators Creative Industries Member Interest Group, which culminated with his service as Co-chair since 2018.
Murray will be remembered for his infinite kindness, his generosity, his easy laughter, his keen intelligence, compassion and grace.
In lieu of flowers Murray requested that donations be made in his name to the Hospice and Palliative Care Program of The Visiting Nurse Service of New York:
VNSNY.org/giving/
A scholarship fund will soon be established in Murray's name which will benefit deserving art and design students. If interested in contributing to this fund please leave contact information at
Murray McKay Memorial Scholarship
https://forms.gle/ADNNk4ndDPn4dF1V6
After a valiant year-long battle with cancer our dear Murray passed away peacefully at home in New York on January 4, 2022. He was 53 years old.
His husband and devoted best buddy of seven years, Gregory Downer, was by his side.
Murray brought passion and brilliance to every endeavor— designer, performance artist, curator, LGBTQ+ activist. His legacy of twenty-one years as an education enrollment leader is profound. He inspired and guided thousands of gifted international and domestic students to attend art and design college and made possible a vast number of scholarships for those without resources.
For Parsons School of Design/The New School, Murray opened a new Paris campus in 2015. For Drexel University as Assistant Dean of Recruitment and Retention of Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, he innovated marketing presentations. Most recently at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Murray revamped the admission suite of marketing materials and served in an interim senior leadership role on the executive team during the early days of the pandemic.
Murray had a longstanding involvement with NAFSA: Association of International Educators Creative Industries Member Interest Group, which culminated with his service as Co-chair since 2018.
Murray will be remembered for his infinite kindness, his generosity, his easy laughter, his keen intelligence, compassion and grace.
In lieu of flowers Murray requested that donations be made in his name to the Hospice and Palliative Care Program of The Visiting Nurse Service of New York:
VNSNY.org/giving/
A scholarship fund will soon be established in Murray's name which will benefit deserving art and design students. If interested in contributing to this fund please leave contact information at
Murray McKay Memorial Scholarship
https://forms.gle/ADNNk4ndDPn4dF1V6