Dan S. Murrell
Emeritus Professor of Law, deceased December 5, 2010

Dan Stewart Murrell, 77, died Dec. 5, 2010 in the Allen Morgan Health Center at Trezevant Manor. He was predeceased by his parents, Dan W. Murrell and Thelma Clark, and his only sibling, Frank Anderson Murrell of Houston, TX. Dan is survived by his wife of 53 years, Patricia Hillman Murrell, and two children, Dan Hillman Murrell (Vicki) of Memphis and Susan Patricia Murrell (Dennis) of Flagstaff, Arizona. He also leaves two grandsons, Daniel Sallis Murrell and Cody Walton Murrell, both of Memphis.

Dan was born October 24, 1933 in Big Spring, TX. He graduated from The University of Mississippi and served nine years in the regular army, including three years in Germany. He returned to Ole Miss to attend law school. Upon receipt of the Juris Doctor Degree, he joined the General Crimes Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. and entered George Washington University School of Law where he earned the LL.M. He joined the faculty of the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis in 1970 and taught there until 2001. He also served two years as university legal counsel. He was active in international law, spending time with the American Bar Association’s Center for Eastern European Legal Initiatives in Moldova and as a visiting professor in Budapest, Hungary. He was an active member of and volunteer for multiple organizations, including the Lions Club, Boy Scout Troop 40, CASA, the Shelby County Juvenile Court, and St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, December 11, at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, and the family will receive visitors afterwards at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, the Trezevant Manor Foundation, the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis, or a charity of the donor’s choosing.

A True Passion for Teaching

Professor Murrell taught at Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law for more than 30 years. 

“We have wonderful memories of Professor Murrell, as a law school professor, as a mentor, and as a friend.  He was a great teacher, who really cared about his students, and he kept in touch with many of them after their graduation from law school.  He had a great sense of humor and he often used it to drive home a point.  He will be missed greatly,” said The Hon. Robert L. Childers (JD ’71) and Amy Amundsen (JD ’87)

“He was full of good will toward everyone and always had a joke to share.  He and Pat were true partners in every sense of the word,” said Professor Janet C. Richards (JD ’76).

His courses included constitutional law, criminal law, criminal procedure and a course he developed, law in literature.  Professor Murrell was a creative professor—staging arrests in the classroom so that students would see an arrest from start to finish—and a professor who practiced experiential learning, lecturing less and letting the students work more. 

He was a beloved professor and colleague to many alumni, faculty and staff of the law school and will truly be missed.

Education: B.A., 1956, University of Mississippi; J.D., 1968, University of Mississippi; L.L.M., 1972 George Washington University.  Admitted: Mississippi, Tennessee, Tennessee and Mississippi Supreme Courts, United States Supreme Court.