OAK RIDGE, Tennessee - Murray W Rosenthal died peacefully in his home on December 15th, 2025 attended by his loving children. He was 99 years old.
He was born in 2-25-1926 in Rolling Fork to Monnie and Esther Rosenthal. His childhood was spent in rural towns along the Mississippi “Delta” as his parents struggled to make a living with small apparel stores. Once the depression eased, the Cleveland store became a success and was moved to Greenville. Rather than relocate again, Murray chose to attend the military academy in Gulfport for his senior year of high school.
At age 19, Murray enlisted in the Navy where he hoped to become a pilot. When the Navy didn’t call immediately, he followed a cousin to Louisiana State University (LSU) for 6 weeks before being sent to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. While there, his mother died. His father remarried around 1955 and Charlene and Louis were born in the ensuing years.
However, the Navy had an overabundance of future aviators and thus diverted him to ships and Midshipman’s School where he became an ensign. While aboard the train to San Francisco to ship out to the Pacific, WWII ended and he returned east and served on a cruiser from Boston to the Caribbean. After that stint he returned to school.
At LSU he pursued chemical engineering and met his future wife Miriam Teplit of Lambert. Upon graduating in 1949, they married in an elaborate wedding at the Memphis Peabody Hotel where ducks paraded through the lobby.
Murray next enrolled in MIT as a graduate student in chemical engineering. The couple stayed in Cambridge for 4 years until his doctorate was completed in 1953. From there they went directly to Oak Ridge, Tennessee where Murray had 2 years earlier accepted a job at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). He was drawn by the laboratory’s heavy engagement in nuclear power and Oak Ridge’s ideal location amidst the beautiful mountains and lakes of east Tennessee.
His career began with doing research and working on nuclear power development. Then in 1973 the oil embargo hit and the laboratory undertook broader programs in energy development and efficient energy use. Murray took on responsibility for those programs and fusion and in 1974 was named Associate Laboratory Director for Advanced Energy Systems. In 1996 he was appointed Director of the Molten-Salt Reactor Program and in that capacity led the laboratory to develop a thermal breeder reactor using molten salts as fuel and coolant. During his last years at the laboratory, from 1989 to 1993, he served as Deputy Director.
During his career, he authored many papers as well as a number of reports and publications on heat transfer, molten-salt reactor development, and advanced converter and thermal nuclear breeders. He received many professional honors; a couple included election to LSU’s College of Engineering’s Hall of Distinction during the 1980/1981 year, and appointment to the National Academy of Engineering in 1990.
Oak Ridge became incorporated after the Rosenthals arrived and they enmeshed themselves in community affairs as the city took form. Children arrived. Elaine was born in 1955 and Doug in 1957. Two weeks each summer was spent with friends and family in Sunset Beach, North Carolina. Murray and Mimi developed a love for international travel and visited many countries including a last trip to Italy for Mimi’s 80th birthday.
Murray was kind, generous, and encouraging of others’ efforts. He was very charismatic with a great sense of humor, and thoroughly enjoyed the dinners and parties that he and Mimi hosted for friends and visitors to the lab. He adored Mimi’s gourmet cooking, sitting outdoors, wine, and discussions about the latest innovations in science.
Family members worried that Murray would be bored in retirement because he had always devoted so many hours to working. But, as he said “I turned out to be a natural at it.” He bought an Apple computer and began learning its intricacies. He became interested in making classes available to the retirement community and was the founding president of Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning (ORICL), an organization of which he was immensely proud.
In 2009, he realized that he had a unique history with and understanding of ORNL’s nuclear reactor programs and wrote an authoritative history titled “An Account of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Thirteen Nuclear Reactors”.
He is survived by his daughter Elaine Rosenthal of Oak Ridge and St. George Island, son Doug Rosenthal (Kris) and grandson Joshua Rosenthal of Alexandria, V
irginia, sister Charlene Cunningham (Kevin) of Greenville and brother Louis Rosenthal (Shannon) of Huntsville, Alabama.
There will be no public services. Those who wish to honor his life with a donation should do so by supporting Roane State Foundation / Murray and Mimi Rosenthal Endowment Fund / 276 Patton Lane / Harriman, TN 37748 – or - Emory Valley Center / 715 Emory Valley Road / Oak Ridge, TN 37830.
