Fiona Murphy

Name/Age	Major/Degree	Occupation	Class of:
Fiona Murphy, 89	B.S./Education	Retired Head of School	1949
Nationality	Gender	Religion	Race
Irish	Female	Protestant	White European

Brief Sketch:

Fiona Murphy founded the famous Bonnie Lass Academy (BLA) in Dublin in 1953. BLA began as a “finishing school” for upper-class ladies, but by 1960, BLA had become the most exclusive girls’ school in Ireland.  In its heyday, BLA had waiting lists five years long, and families were known to preregister their girls the day they were born. Unfortunately, the school burned down in a spectacular fire during the summer of 1972, and Ms. Murphy made the difficult choice to retire. She has been a loyal supporter of Theopolis College, establishing an endowed chair in our Education department, and providing two annual education scholarships for young women through the Charles and Fiona Murphy Foundation.