Bill Murphey is an American meteorologist and the state climatologist of Georgia, as well as the chief meteorologist for the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
[1] Murphey received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
[2] He was named Georgia's state climatologist in 2011 by Governor Nathan Deal, to replace David Stooksbury, whom Deal had previously removed from the same post.
[3] Critics accused Deal of replacing Stooksbury with Murphey to gain control over the ability to declare droughts in Georgia.
A spokesman for Deal responded to this accusation by saying that Murphey was free to speak however he wanted, and was not "muzzled".