Our History

The Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation was founded in 1989 by ten Chicago-based business associates, who set out to enrich the lives of Chicago youth by providing them with educational opportunities they would otherwise be unable to access. After partnering with two private high schools, in the spring of 1990 DMSF awarded high school scholarships to four economically disadvantaged students who exhibited academic excellence.

As interest in DMSF’s work increased, it developed partnerships with additional high schools, increased the number of scholarships it was able to offer, and developed programming to enrich the lives of its Scholars.

Today, DMSF is able to offer between 75 and 100 new scholarships to 8th grade students each year. Those students are attending 40 different parochial and independent day schools in the Chicago area, as well as 30 boarding schools located from coast to coast.  As of June 2009, DMSF has awarded scholarships to more than 1,600 Scholars to allow them to attend college-preparatory high schools.