Joseph Edward Murray (April 1, 1919 – November 26, 2012) was an American plastic surgeon who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1990 with E. Donnall Thomas for "their discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease."

Murray is known as the "father of transplantation" for major milestones in the field of transplantation, including performing the first successful human kidney transplant, defining brain death, organizing the first international conference on human kidney transplants, and founding the National Kidney Registry, the forerunner of the current United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS).

Murray was born on April 1, 1919, in Milford, Massachusetts, to noted lawyer and local judge William A. Murray, and Mary (née DePasquale) Murray, a schoolteacher. He was of Irish and Italian descent. A star athlete at the Milford High School, he excelled in football, ice hockey, and baseball. After being influenced by his family doctor, Murray resolved to become a surgeon.

Upon graduation, Murray attended the College of the Holy Cross with the intent to play baseball. However, his baseball practices and lab schedules conflicted, forcing him to give up the sport. He studied philosophy and English, earning a degree in the humanities at Holy Cross in 1940. Murray subsequently attended Harvard Medical School; after graduating with his medical degree in 1943, Murray began his internship at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. During that time, he was inducted into the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army.

Murray served in the plastic surgery unit from 1944 to 1947 at Valley Forge General Hospital in Pennsylvania. At Valley Forge General Hospital, he worked for Bradford Cannon, a prominent plastic surgeon, and developed a passion for plastic surgery. His unit cared for thousands of soldiers wounded on the battlefields of World War II, working to reconstruct their disfigured hands and faces. His interest in transplantation grew out of working with burn patients during his time in the Army. Murray and his colleagues observed that the burn victims rejected temporary skin grafts from unrelated donors much more slowly than had been expected, suggesting the potential for organ grafts, or transplants. In particular Murray was impressed with the case of Charles Woods, a 22-year-old pilot who had sustained burns over 70% of his body, including his face and hands, which required covering the burned areas with cadaveric skin grafts. The donor grafts survived long enough for Woods’ own healthy skin to be harvested and used as autografts to cover the burned areas. Over the course of 24 operations, the surgical team was able to remodel his eyelids, nose, mouth and hands, with Woods surviving the operations and eventually becoming a successful businessman. Murray would later recall, “The questions raised and lessons learned in trying to help Charles would determine the course of the rest of my professional life.”. Murray's first exposure to the field of reconstructive surgery ignited his lifelong passion for correcting terrible physical deformities and spawned another interest, transplantation – for Murray had seen for the first time how the tissue of one person could be used to save the life of another.

In 2001, Murray published his autobiography, Surgery Of The Soul: Reflections on a Curious Career, with stories about how surgery treats the souls of the patient and the surgeon, as well as the disease.

After his military service, Murray completed his general surgical residency, and joined the surgical staff of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. He then went to New York to train in plastic surgery at New York and Memorial Hospitals, returning to the Brigham as a member of the surgical staff in 1951. Many of his peers discounted his pursuit, believing that the problem of immune rejection was insurmountable, as French surgeon Alexis Carrel (1873–1944), a 1912 Nobel Prize laureate, had concluded from his research that a “biological force” would forever prevent successful transplantation.

Murray was a practicing Catholic and faith played a role in his professional as well as his personal life. During preparations for the first transplant surgery, Murray and his team consulted clergy of all denominations while weighing the ethical issues of the procedure.