Leadership

James E. Murphy

Chairman and CEO

James E. Murphy is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Murphy & Co. He is also the retired Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Accenture, the world’s leading management consulting and technology services firm.

In his role at Accenture, Jim headed the company’s Global Marketing & Communications Business Practice, comprising 500 professionals worldwide. The business practice manages all of Accenture’s marketing and communications activities, including image and market development, public relations, advertising, branding, events and meetings, thought leadership communications, and internal communications. In a unique arrangement, Jim provided his management services to Accenture through Murphy & Co. which he and his partner and company President Jason Murphy established in 1993.

Jim led the effort to rebrand and reposition Accenture, which won widespread recognition for the company. Jim was named “Business Marketer of the Year” by BtoB magazine; he was given the Public Relations Professional of the Year Award by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA); and Sales & Marketing Management magazine named Jim a “Best Marketer.” The Arthur W. Page Society selected him as a member of its prestigious Hall of Fame.

Jim also chairs the PR Coalition, a group of 20 U.S.-based corporate communications, public affairs, and investor relations organizations, representing over 50,000 professionals. In 2007, he led that organization’s efforts to co-sponsor, with the U.S. Department of State, the Private Sector Summit on Public Diplomacy, developing a set of specific recommendations for improving U.S. diplomacy efforts.

Before launching Murphy & Co., Jim was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Americas operations of Burson-Marsteller. Prior to that, Jim served as the senior corporate communications officer for three of America's most prominent corporations: Owens-Corning Fiberglas, Beatrice, and Merrill Lynch. He has accumulated extensive expertise in corporate advertising, crisis communications, marketing communications, community affairs, and philanthropy.

Jim has served on the boards of numerous civic, community and professional organizations; including the Institute for Public Relations Research and Education; the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University; the School of Commerce of the University of Illinois; the College of Communication of the University of Illinois; the Greenwich, Connecticut-based Bruce Museum’s Board of Trustees; and the March of Dimes. He is past president of the Arthur W. Page Society and is an accredited member of PRSA. He also serves on the advisory council of the Graduate School of Communications at Baruch College/CUNY.

He has a bachelor of science degree from the College of Media (formerly Communications) at the University of Illinois and attended the Graduate School of Business at the University of Michigan.