We are sad to report that Bernard “Bernie” Murchland, Ph.D., a 37-year Ohio Wesleyan professor of philosophy, passed away on June 24, 2025, at Willow Brook Christian Village in Delaware. He was 96.
Bernie joined the OWU Department of Philosophy in 1967 and retired in 2004. In 1996, he earned the Bishop Herbert Welch Meritorious Teaching Award, bestowed annually to recognize outstanding teachers. In supporting his nomination, one student shared: “Let him help you dig around in yourself. This is the most thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating course I have had at OWU. The pinnacle of my four years.”
In his obituary, Bernie’s family shares that he “lived a life of joy, authenticity, and unending intellectual curiosity.”
During his tenure at Ohio Wesleyan, Bernie was chairman of the Department of Philosophy for many years, served on all major faculty committees, and taught courses including Medieval-Renaissance Philosophy, American Thought, Business Ethics, Technology and Society, The Modern Tempter, and the Philosophy of Art.
“His favorite course was a senior seminar in Existential Thought,” his family shares. “He would tell his students that we all exist, therefore we are all existentialists, and let them take it from there.”
At Bernie’s request, there will be no visitation or funeral. Contributions in his memory may be made to Ohio Wesleyan University or Willow Brook Christian Village.
Please join us in sending our deepest sympathies to Bernie’s family members and friends, including his daughters Suzanne Luecke and Rebecca Murchland.
Read complete obituary information and share memories and condolences online at Robinson Funeral Home.
Source: Offices of Human Resources and the Provost