Jim Murphy ’80

“Whatever you do, do well, and may success attend your every effort.” So claims the Bononia Docet, and so Brother Jim Murphy can attest.

Murphy is the owner and chef of both The Kingfisher Bar and Grill and Bluefin restaurants. The Kingfisher opened in 1993, the Bluefin in 2005. Both they, and he, have been piling up the accolades since. The Kingfisher Bar and Grill, for example, has won the Tucson Weekly “Best Seafood” title each year since 2003, with Bluefin routinely taking second. He has also won back-to-back Copper Chef challenges in 2008 and 2009. And he has been kind enough to host Rush Pref Dinners as well as numerous Gamma-Rho Alumni Luncheons.

Jim was initiated into Gamma-Rho in 1980 when we last re-founded the chapter. As an undergraduate he was a GMC and helped with the food for FUBAR (a sign of things to come). He has been involved locally with the Primavera Foundation and as a founding member of the Tucson Originals where he served as treasurer. Jim and his wife, Jackie, have two children: John (19, a junior at NAU) and Natalie (17, a freshman at the University of San Francisco).

“I have not kept up with many of my Brothers, yet when we do see each other it is a genuine interest in each others lives that has always struck me. Being a part of of Kappa Sigma was more than just having some buddies in the same class or living in the same dorm in college. The time spent the Gamma-Rho Brothers was for me a definite enrichment of my lackluster collegiate experience at The University of Arizona. Since the U of A I have continued my academic endeavors in other schools but have not had the opportunity for “life” reasons to share the same kind of experiences I had with the Brothers of Kappa Sigma.

“As for advice for undergrads, finish before you are 50, learn from your Brothers and don’t @#$%%^-up.”