Rate My Professor Murray Blum

Murray S. Blum was a distinguished biologist and entomologist at the University of Georgia, where he served as Research Professor in the Department of Entomology until his retirement in 1995. He earned a B.S. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Illinois in 1955. Joining the University of Georgia faculty in the 1960s, Blum advanced to full professor and was appointed to the prestigious Research Professorship in 1978, contributing over three decades to advancing knowledge in insect chemical communication. His career was marked by pioneering investigations into the pheromones and chemical defenses of social insects, including ants, bees, termites, beetles, true bugs, and grasshoppers, as well as the toxic venoms of medically significant species such as imported fire ants and the eastern lubber grasshopper.

Blum's scholarly output included the seminal book Chemical Defenses of Arthropods published in 1981, which synthesized research on arthropod defensive secretions, and several edited volumes such as Sexual Selection and Reproductive Competition in Insects (1979, co-edited with Nancy Ann Blum), Fundamentals of Insect Physiology (1985), Toxic Action of Marine and Terrestrial Alkaloids (1995), and Chemistry and Toxicology of Diverse Classes of Alkaloids (1996). His contributions earned him the Entomological Society of America Outstanding Scientist of the Year award in 1978, the International Society of Chemical Ecology Silver Medal in 1989 for exceptional scientific achievements, the Lamar Dodd Award for research excellence, and a Fulbright Senior Scholar award in 1984-1985 hosted by the University of Paris VI. In recognition of his lasting impact, the XV Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects featured a dedicated symposium, “Social Insect Semiochemicals: A Symposium in Honor of Murray Blum,” in 2006, highlighting his foundational role in chemical ecology.