The University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry is proud to recognize Dr. Mark T. Murphy ’81 as its 2026 Alumni Spirit Award recipient, honoring a career defined by leadership, education, service and an enduring commitment to his alma mater.
Since graduating from the University of Detroit School of Dentistry in 1981, Murphy has built a career extending far beyond the walls of his own practice. Over more than four decades, he has become a nationally and internationally recognized clinician, educator and leader, lecturing around the world on dental sleep medicine, leadership, practice management and treatment planning.
Murphy has served on the boards of the Pankey Institute, National Association of Dental Laboratories, Foundation for Dental Laboratory Technology, St. Vincent de Paul’s Dental Center and The Dental Advisor, among others. He also spent more than a decade on the visiting faculty of the Pankey Institute.
A Fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Academy of General Dentistry, Murphy is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine, a distinction held by fewer than 1% of dentists nationwide.
His commitment to education continues through his work in dental sleep medicine with ProSomnus Sleep Technologies, but some of his most meaningful contributions have brought his expertise back to Detroit Mercy Dental.
Murphy helped establish the School’s dental sleep medicine program, has served as a guest faculty member for many years, and has presented continuing education programs for Detroit Mercy Dental, frequently donating his time and expertise.
Perhaps the best way to describe Murphy’s career is through one word: influence.
His impact reaches well beyond the organizations he has led or the audiences he has addressed. Throughout his career, Murphy has taught, mentored and challenged countless dental professionals to think differently about their patients, their practices and the profession itself.
That influence has a ripple effect. The clinicians he has educated take what they have learned back to the patients and communities they serve. As a result, his impact extends to people he may never meet. Somewhere, patients are breathing better and living healthier lives because of knowledge passed along by a clinician who once learned from Mark Murphy.
That is the extraordinary reach of a great educator.
Detroit Mercy Dental graduates experienced that influence firsthand in 2019, when Murphy returned to his alma mater as the School of Dentistry’s commencement speaker. He left the graduating class with three deceptively simple principles:
Do the right thing. Do your best. Treat other people the way you want to be treated.
Those words reflect not only the advice Murphy shared that day, but also the way he has practiced, taught and led throughout his career.
The Alumni Spirit Award celebrates graduates whose professional achievements, service and connection to Detroit Mercy embody the spirit of the University. Through his leadership, dedication to education and continued commitment to Detroit Mercy Dental, Murphy exemplifies those qualities.
Detroit Mercy Dental congratulates Dr. Mark T. Murphy ’81 on being named the School of Dentistry’s 2026 Alumni Spirit Award recipient and thanks him for the lasting influence he continues to have on the profession, his students, his colleagues and his alma mater.