Evelyn Murphy, BWWC Co-Chair

Evelyn Murphy is a Ph.D. economist, Founder and President of The WAGE Project, Inc. and author of Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men and What To Do About It published by Simon & Schuster in 2005. The WAGE Project, Inc. is a nationwide, grassroots activist organization dedicated to eliminating the gender wage gap. 

Dr. Murphy conducts Work$mart salary negotiation workshops for working women throughout the United States -- to community women at YWCAs, at other community organizations, even at a mayor’s office; to women staff and faculty in colleges and universities; and through professional associations to women lawyers, surgeons, certified public accountants, scientists, librarians, and others. In addition, she facilitates $tart$mart workshops on campuses for young women about to start their careers. 

Earlier in her career, Evelyn Murphy served as Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs, and subsequently as Secretary of Economic Affairs, In 1986, she was elected Lt. Governor of Massachusetts and became the first woman in the state’s 200 year history to hold constitutional office. Prior to her election, no woman had ever served as Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Auditor or United States Senator.

Dr. Murphy is Chair of the Board of Directors of SBLI USA Mutual Life Insurance Company and a Director of Citizens Energy Corporation. In her civic role, she is a founding Director of The Commonwealth Institute; Honorary Chair, The Lost Coin Women’s Fund, Inc; Advisory Board Member, the Center for Women and Work at UMass Lowell, and the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at UMass Boston. 

She earned a BA in mathematics from Duke University; MA in economics from Columbia University; a PhD in economics from Duke University. She is the recipient of eleven honorary degrees, the distinguished alumni award of the Graduate School of Duke University, and more than one hundred awards from federal, state and community organizations. In her spare time, she has run the Boston Marathon many times and can be seen in the bleachers cheering for the Boston Red Sox.