Murli Gupta, a professor emeritus of mathematics and former faculty senator, died on Aug. 19. He was 78.
Gupta taught mathematics at GW for 45 years, where he researched numerical analysis, computationally fluid dynamics and mathematics education and served as a faculty senator for over two decades before retiring in May. His colleagues in the mathematics department and Faculty Senate remember him as a loving father and grandfather, an advocate for faculty and students and a kind and trusting friend.
Gupta received his bachelor’s of science from Agra University in India in 1963, later receiving his master’s of science degree and his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, where he met his wife, according to his obituary and faculty profile.
Gupta chaired the mathematics department from 2015 to 2017, was a member of the ALEKS program advisory group from 2017 to 2023 and the Director of the Colonial Math Challenge from 2008 to 2010, according to the Department of Mathematics Chair Frank Baginski.
Baginski said Gupta was also the director of the GW Summer Program for Women in Mathematics from 1995 to 2013. The five-week program focused on cultivating undergraduate women in math by exposing them to advanced math coursework and positioning them to pursue graduate degrees.
Valentina Harizanov, a professor of mathematics, said Gupta has “touched many lives” of his students, collaborators, colleagues and friends. She said she used to teach and guest lecture at the GW Summer Program for Women in Mathematics, with two of its alums becoming doctoral students under her.
“Murli was a warm, caring and encouraging director who made a huge positive impact on the lives of so many young women in mathematics,” Harizanov said.
Harizanov said Gupta’s research included 34 publications and 489 citations over his career, including his early research starting with computers that required a punch card input. She added that Gupta gave her some of his original punch cards, which were used to input data and programs into a computer, to show to her Computability Theory class.
Daniel Ullman, a professor of mathematics, said Gupta was a friend for many years and a “fiendish” Scrabble player who loved his family.
“I do want to say that he built a wonderful family with his wife: Four children, all delightful, and seven grandchildren,” Ullman said in an email. “He was rightfully proud of all of them.”
E. Arthur Robinson, an emeritus professor of mathematics, said he and Gupta both retired in May after being friends and colleagues for nearly 40 years, where they worked on many projects together.
“Professor Gupta was devoted to his teaching and to GW’s students,” Robinson said in an email. “He was a prolific researcher and gifted administrator, including a stint as department chair. I will very much miss him.”
Gupta served numerous roles across the University, including representing the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences in the Faculty Senate for 22 years, where he served as the chair of the Appointments, Salary and Promotion Policies Committee and a member of the Fiscal Planning & Budgeting Committee and the Benefits Advisory Committee. Gupta also served as parliamentarian of CCAS from 2020 to 2023 and on the CCAS Promotion and Tenure Committee from 2009 to 2017, according to Baginski.
University President Ellen Granberg led a moment of silence for Gupta during September’s Faculty Senate meeting after Katrin Schultheiss, an associate professor of history and faculty senator, gave a dedication to Gupta.
Schultheiss said Gupta was a “respected and beloved” member of the senate and an advocate for faculty rights, fairness, safety and promoting the mission of the University.
“He had a wonderful sense of humor and a clear moral compass that, among many other qualities, will be deeply missed by all his Senate colleagues,” Schultheiss said in an email.
Phil Wirtz, a professor of decision sciences and psychological and brain sciences and a faculty senator, said he had known Gupta since 1990 through their service on the Faculty Senate. He said Gupta was a “role model” for generations of faculty.
“Many of us relied very heavily on Murli’s guidance, extraordinary judgment and characteristic good humor even when things looked bleak,” Wirtz said in an email.
Wirtz said Gupta was “instrumental” in implementing and monitoring many University initiatives, including faculty compensation, tenure, promotion and health insurance, the Medical Faculty Associates financial crisis and the creation of the School of Nursing.
“Murli personified the ideal faculty member: always fighting the good fight, and always there as a friend to support you whenever you needed it,” Wirtz said in an email.
Gupta asked Provost Chris Bracey during a Faculty Senate meeting in March about what steps officials were taking to meet a clause that requires 75 percent of regular faculty to be tenured or be on a tenure track.
“Is this trend going to continue or is there some remote possibility that we will reach the 75th percentile of full-time tenure track and tenured faculty anytime in the near future?” Gupta asked at the meeting.
During a Faculty Senate meeting in October 2023, Gupta said the Benefits Advisory Committee was pushing for the University to contribute more money to employee health plans after the University announced an increase in the cost of health care plans.
“Maybe you, madam president, will put in another penny in there, make it 79 and that will make everyone very happy because that way our medical costs will not increase as much,” Gupta said to Granberg, referencing the 78 percent of University contributions to employee benefits.
Susan LeLacheur, a professor of physician assistant studies who served with Gupta as co-chair of the Appointments, Salary and Promotion Policies Committee, said he was a “tireless” leader in governance at the University.
“He modeled diligence, organization and inclusivity in every aspect of his work, always with the goal of helping GW to be the best it can be,” LeLacheur said in an email. “He never hesitated to press the Faculty Senate or the Board of Directors on issues of fairness.”
Sarah Wagner, a professor of anthropology and a faculty senator, said Gupta was a kind person and a “model” colleague in the senate. She said in a statement read at a September Faculty Senate meeting that Gupta led through “kindness, competence and equanimity.”
“For championing the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, over and over again, for insisting on transparency and active shooter training, for doing all of this with unflappable goodwill and humility,” Wagner said in a statement at the meeting. “You will be missed, but your example remains.”
Gupta expressed concern in 2020 over the lack of specific proposals and goals related to diversity included in former University President Thomas LeBlanc’s strategic plan.
“That is something I would like to see defined — what kind of diversity, how to achieve the diversity, what kind of diversity are we talking about,” Gupta said in 2020.
Guillermo Orti, a professor of biology and faculty senator, said he would always listen to and respect Gupta’s “reasoned” arguments and honest opinions. He said Gupta was a person of integrity and someone he could always trust.
“I wish we had more people like him around,” Orti said in an email. “It was tragic to learn that he left this world so soon after he decided to retire. He deserved better!”
Liz Carlson, the Faculty Senate operations coordinator, said working with Gupta was “an absolute delight.”
“He had the rare ability to engage in discussions of challenging issues with kindness and from a place of deep compassion,” Carlson said in an email. “He is very much missed.”
Gupta’s funeral service was held on Aug. 25 in Falls Church, Virginia. He is survived by his wife Elsie, his four children, seven grandchildren, four siblings, nieces and nephews and other relatives in the U.S., India and Canada, according to his obituary.