Our Mission

The mission of the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund is to unlock educational opportunities for talented Chicago-area students facing financial need. DMSF partners with Scholars, families and schools through high school and beyond by providing scholarships, academic programs and personal support so that each Scholar can reach their potential.

Our Vision

We envision a world in which every student has access to a high-quality education and the support they need to succeed in life, regardless of financial means.​

Our History

​The Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund was founded in 1989 by two Chicago-based brothers with their family and friends, 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 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.
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Today, DMSF is able to offer 150 new scholarships to 8th grade students each year. Those students are attending roughly 40 different parochial and independent day schools in the Chicago area, as well as 40 boarding schools from coast to coast. As of November 2021, DMSF has awarded scholarships to nearly 3,600 Scholars to allow them to attend college preparatory high schools.