He was a constitutional law and labor law professor at UNC from 1971 until his retirement in 1990. He held two endowed chairs at the law school, including the Henry Brandis chair.

He grew up in Memphis, Tenn., and received a law degree from the University of Virginia and a doctorate from Yale University. He taught law at the University of Mississippi at Oxford from 1953 to 1962. He enraged Mississippi segregationists in the 1950s and ’60s by teaching that school integration was the law of the land.

After he retired, law students endowed an annual Murphy Lecture, which has attracted speakers including U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, Rep. John Lewis and U.S. Sen. John Edwards.

Until two years ago, he was an active labor arbitrator who helped settle employment disputes between many companies and government employers and respective unions in North Carolina and surrounding states.

A memorial service at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill is planned.

Survivors include his wife, Joy Upshaw Murphy of Chapel Hill; three sons, William Patrick Murphy Jr. of Moscow, Robert H. Murphy of New York City and Stephen U. Murphy of Carrboro; and a grandchild.