Dr. Stephanie Murphy, Vice President of Culture and Experience at UnitedHealth Group and a doctoral graduate of Louisiana Tech, will serve as keynote speaker for Tech’s Winter Commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 7 at the Thomas Assembly Center on the Ruston campus.
In her leadership role with UnitedHealth Group, Murphy guides enterprise employee listening, culture, and experience strategy that impacts more than 400,000 employees globally. With more than 15 years of experience in people analytics, assessments, and organizational research, she is nationally recognized for advancing employee experience through data-driven leadership.
Murphy grew up in LaPlace, graduated from East St. John High, then earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of New Orleans in 2009 before pursuing her doctoral degree at Tech, where “the faculty was welcoming and the quarter system made it easier to complete the work more efficiently without sacrificing the learning and knowledge attained,” she said.
During commencement, she hopes to impress upon Tech graduates “the importance of a support system and a strong network,” she said, impactful keys to helping her both in graduate school and now in her career.
“Success,” Murphy said, “is not achieved alone.”
She completed her Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Tech in 2015.
Besides her work with UnitedHealth Group, Murphy is the Founder and Executive Director of the Society for People Analytics (SPA), a global nonprofit community of more than 8,000 members dedicated to strengthening the people analytics profession. She has also held leadership roles at Dell Technologies and has experience across public and private sector organizations, including the U.S. Department of Treasury, Louisiana State Police, and Lumen Technologies.
A frequent keynote speaker at national conferences, she has been recognized as a Top 10 Data Analytics Professional, Top 20 People Analytics Influencer, Top 100 HR Influencer, Top 25 Emerging Culture Creator, and an Austin 40 Under 40 Finalist. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business.