She was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1896. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the U of S in 1917 and graduated from Montreal's Royal Victoria School of Nursing in 1924. In 1935 she completed a course in hospital administration and instruction from the Bedford College for Women at the University of London.
Miss Murray held a number of teaching positions during her career: University of Wisconsin, 1925-30; Ottawa Civic Hospital, 1930-34; and Royal Jubilee Hospital School of Nursing in Vancouver, 1934-38. She earned the rank of full professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Nursing where she worked from 1938 until her death in 1948.