Bio

Jenna Phillips Murphy is a 2006 graduate, summa cum laude, of the University of Mississippi. While at Ole Miss, she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies and was honored to be named a member of the 2006 Marcus Elvis Taylor Medal class.

Mrs. Murphy was graduated from Mississippi College School of Law in 2009 as a doctor of jurisprudence, after which she worked in various arenas before completing an alternate route to teacher licensure program in 2015. She taught in the Clinton Public School District before returning in 2018 to teach at her alma mater, St. Joe.

At St. Joe, Mrs. Murphy teaches various United States History classes and makes up the entire Anthropology department. She co-sponsors the Youth Legislature, Junior Youth Assembly, and Model United Nations programs with Ms. Lambert and is a past coach of the St. Joe Academic Competition team.

In 2019, Mrs. Murphy was awarded a fellowship to continue her academic pursuits through the Ashbrooke Center located at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. During the 2022-2023 school year, was honored with the Gilder-Lehrman Institute's History Teacher of the Year for the state of Mississippi.

In her very limited free time, Mrs. Murphy enjoys wandering around Lemuria Bookstore to add to her never-ending “To Read” pile, wearing ugly hats while she gardens, and traveling to places like the National Apple Museum.

Mrs. Murphy is married to Yale Murphy, a fellow alum of the St. Joseph class of 2002, and they along with their four children are members of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Madison.