Welcome to the Murray Group web server at the Louisiana State UniversityDepartment of Chemistry. The group specializes in mass spectrometry using laser desorption and ablation for sampling and ionization.
Research Areas
- Aerosol MALDI
- Atomic Force Microscopy Tip Enhanced Laser Ablation
- Emory University
- Internet Resources
- Laser Ablation Ambient Sampling
- Laser Ablation and Ionization Fundamentals
- MALDI Microfluidics
- Mass Spectrometry Applications
Kermit Murray’s Biography

Kermit K. Murray is the Roy Paul Daniels Professor of Chemistry at Louisiana State University. He was born in Oakland, California and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from Concord High School in 1978. He obtained his B.S. degree in Chemistry with high honors at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1982 and was the Chemistry valedictorian. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics at the University of Colorado in 1988, working with Professor W. Carl Lineberger on the chemistry and spectroscopy of negative ions. He went on to postdoctoral research on infrared spectroscopy at Rice University with Professor Robert F. Curl and at Texas A&M University with Professor David H. Russell, where he developed novel spray ionization methods for MALDI mass spectrometry. In 1994, he became an assistant professor at Emory University before moving to Louisiana State University in 2001. His research focuses on instrument development for mass spectrometry using lasers for sampling and imaging of complex biological samples. He has collaborated in three Small Business Administration projects through the National Institutes of Health to develop laser sampling and imaging systems for biomedical research applications. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Mass Spectrometry, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, Analytica Chimica Acta, and the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. He is a past board member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and a recipient of the ASMS Research Award. In 2013, he was elected an IUPAC Fellow for development of mass spectrometry terminology and on-line resources.
Murray Group Members
Murray Group Summer 2019 Kermit Murray with infrared optical parametric oscillator laser ablation system Fan Cao, “Droplet Capture Tip-enhanced Laser Ablation Sampling for Mass Spectrometry”, American Society for Mass Spectrometry National Meeting, San Diego, June 3-7, 2018 Linda Allen and Bijay Banstola at the 2018 Department of Chemistry Awards Kelin Wang and Fan Cao at ASMS 2017 Murray Group Dinner ASMS 2017: Amir Hossen, Chao Dong, Remi Lewal, Kelin Wang, Fan Cao, Fabrizio Donnarumma, Bijay Banstola, Sucharita Dutta, Shelley Jackson, Kermit Murray, Jeonghoon Lee, and Xing Fan Chao Dong ASMS 2017 Bijay Banstola ASMS 2017 Amir Hossen ASMS 2017 Remi Lewal, Chao Dong, Kelin Wand, Fan Cao, and Bijay Banstola at ASMS 2017 Fabrizio Donnarumma ASMS 2017 Kelin Wang ASMS 2017 Ben Bythell, Brandon Ruotolo, Joe Loo, and Kermit Murray at the 2016 JASMS Editorial Board dinner in San Antonio (photo by Sue Weintraub) At the LSU Rainmakers event were, left to right: Provost Rick Koubek, Campus Federal Credit Union President and CEO Dawn Harris, Associate Vice President for Research & Economic Development Stephen David Beck, Associate Professor Donghui Zhang, Associate Vice President for Research & Economic Development Gus Kousoulas, the Mary P. Poindexter Professor of Mass Communication Lance Porter, Assistant Professor Rendy Kartika, Vice President of Research & Economic Development Kalliat T. Valsaraj, Roy Paul Daniels Professor of Chemistry Kermit Murray, the Louise & Kenneth Kinney Professor of Black Drama and Playwriting Femi Euba, and Assistant Professor Benjamin Kahan. Photo Credit: Cody Willhite, LSU Kermit Murray at Emory University, 1995 Russell Group Texas A&M 1992 Kermit Murray at Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park, 1987 Yonathan Merid at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting in Vancouver BC, 2012 Chinthaka Seneviratne and Sung-Gun Park at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting in Vancouver BC, 2012 Murray Group at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting in Vancouver BC, 2012 Murray Group at the poster session at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting in Vancouver BC, 2012 LSU Graduation May 2013 – Juaneka Hayes and Kermit Murray LSU Graduation December 2009 – Damien Narcisse, Kermit Murray, Jianan Dong LSU Graduation May 2008 – John Dugas and Kermit Murray Kermit Murray at ASMS 2013 2013 American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting – Chinthaka Seneviratne 2013 American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting – Thabiso Musapelo 2013 American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting – Yonathan Merid 2013 American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting – Fan Huang Murray Group graduate student Lancia Darville and Prof. Mark Merchant of McNeese State University