Dr. Murray Campbell

Dr. Murray Campbell
BfB Expert, Musical Acoustics

Murray Campbell was born and brought up in the Highlands of Scotland. He studied physics at the University of Edinburgh, graduating BSc in 1965 and PhD in 1971. His research work in electron spin exchange phenomena included a lengthy collaboration with colleagues at the Ecole Polytechnique near Paris.

In 1985 he founded the Musical Acoustics Research Group at the University of Edinburgh, and in 2000 was appointed Professor of Musical Acoustics. He is now Professor Emeritus and Senior Professorial Fellow at Edinburgh, where he continues to carry out research on the acoustics of wind and stringed musical instruments. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Acoustical Society of America and the Institute of Physics. He was awarded the Médaille Etrangère by the Societé Francais d'Acoustique in 2000, the Rossing Prize for Acoustics Education by the Acoustical Society of America in 2008, and the RWB Stephens Medal by the UK Institute of Acoustics in 2017. He has co-authored two textbooks and numerous papers on the science of musical instruments. He directs and plays cornetto in the Edinburgh Renaissance Band and the Scottish Gabrieli Ensemble, conducts a mixed voice choir, and plays trombone in a jazz ensemble and a symphony orchestra. He is Session Clerk and organist of Carlops Parish Church in the Scottish Borders.