Dr. William (Bill) Mulligan, Jr. received his BA from Assumption College and his MA and PhD from Clark University. He joined the Department of History at Murray State University in 1993.
In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate history and world civilization courses at Murray State, Dr. Mulligan has served as coordinator of the World Civilizations and Cultures program, the History Graduate program, and the Religious Studies program. He has published over 50 articles, reviews, and encyclopedia entries; contributed to numerous public history reports and projects; and given over 120 conference and professional presentations.
He has also held leadership roles for the International Conference on the Global Irish and Irish Diaspora, the Irish Diaspora Researchers, the Jackson Purchase Historical Society, the New Hibernia Review, the Kentucky Association of Museums, the Kentucky Heritage Council, and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, among many others. He has received grants from the Fulbright Commission, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Irish American Cultural Institute, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Dr. Mulligan is also a past recipient of the Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award, the Murray State Alumni Association’s Distinguished Researcher Award, the Murray State Board of Regents Outstanding Teaching Award, among many other honors and recognitions.
TRIBUTES
I truly have been blessed by Dr. Mulligan’s friendship since I arrived at Murray State in 2013. We both love The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, of which we have served as chapter officers. He has much institutional knowledge to share about Phi Kappa Phi, Murray State University, and other campus topics and issues. My conversations with him were always a treasure. His passion for history and my focus on media history also led us on similar paths at the same conferences, particularly the Ohio Valley History Conferences, and I appreciated more than he ever will know his encouragement for me to submit some of my articles for the Journal of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society. He has done the same for his students. His care and enthusiasm for students to succeed in college are genuine. Dr. Mulligan is one of Murray State’s many renowned scholars, and I know he will enjoy his retirement with enriching and inspiring research projects. Thank you, Dr. Mulligan, for all that you have done for your students, your colleagues and me!
–Dr. Melony Shemberger, Associate Professor of Mass Communication, Murray State University
******
I have been privileged to know Bill for about eighteen years now, thanks to our mutual involvement in the American Conference for Irish Studies and especially our connection through the Midwest Region of the ACIS. But that connection is merely one we share. Your colleague, Dr. Kathy Callahan, is a friend and former student of mine, and Benjamin Linzy, a Murray State graduate, has been a Master’s and PhD student with my department at Marquette University in recent years. In other words, Bill’s work has overlapped with my own in many important and fruitful ways.
He is, without doubt, one of the most generous scholars I know. Whether listening intently and offering insightful responses to another’s paper at a conference, or reaching into his own pocket to purchase honor cords for Murray students, he always finds a way to step forward. To be sure, Bill does not suffer fools—one need only cross him in debate to know that he can get his Irish up as well as anyone—but these moments are honest ones, informed by his lifetime of experience and his deep readings in US and wider histories. Through his engagement with the Jackson Purchase Historical Society, his countless public talks, his visits to local schools, or his effort to bring colleagues to Murray, Bill seems to be everywhere at once. His public service seems as boundless as his appetite for sharing his work with colleagues in the USA, Europe, and Latin America. Social media makes it possible to follow his exploits, but conversations with him over the years have been the best way to see the light these travels bring to his face.
One of my closest friends in the field, Dr. Matthew O’Brien, Professor of History at Franciscan University in Ohio recalled to me the impact that Bill’s inspiration has had on him. In 2005, Dr. O’Brien came to Murray at Bill’s invitation: “I have to admit that I was under the weather for that trip, but even at my healthiest I would have struggled to match the breakneck pace of his schedule as host, teacher, and student advocate. It seemed like we couldn’t walk twenty feet without running into somebody who had a question for him to answer, a problem for him to solve, or a story to share. It was impressive to witness how much time and energy and personality that Bill invested into bringing Irish studies to Murray during my trip—and I think that he had two other visitors that same spring!”
O’Brien continues, “In my particular field of Irish and Irish-American history, there are a few deservedly well-known programs with national, or even international renown, such as Notre Dame, Boston College and New York University. Blest with deep pockets and a large staff of prominent scholars, they can make impressive things happen. But the personal and professional dedication that Bill showed to providing the students and other members of the Murray State community with scholarly opportunities was as inspiring as in some ways even more instructive to those of us working for smaller or mid-sized programs. Not only has Bill earned the numerous honors that he’s received from Murray, but he’s also earned the respect and appreciation from so many of us in the field of Irish history as a master teacher in the finest sense of the word.”
That energy, that determination, that passion for what he does has been felt in Irish Studies circles from Kentucky to Ireland to Sao Paolo to Burgos and beyond. It is a true pleasure to salute Dr. Bill Mulligan on this occasion, both to say thank you for all you have done to enrich our work and to say how much we look forward to your continuing insights and friendship in the years ahead.
—Dr. Timothy G. McMahon, Associate Professor of History and Director of Graduate Studies, Marquette University; Past President, American Conference for Irish Studies
College of humanities and fine arts 
Every scheduling session began with checking the schedule to see what Dr. Mulligan was teaching. He is one of the biggest reasons I hold a degree in history from Murray State University.
LikeLike