Somnigroup’s Tom Murray to deliver 2026 Irwin Warren Lecture in Advertising and Digital Media
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March. 31, 2026) — Tom Murray, chief marketing officer of Somnigroup International Inc., will deliver the 2026 Irwin Warren Lecture in Advertising and Digital Media 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, in Pence Hall’s Wrigley Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Murray was appointed chief marketing officer at Somnigroup earlier this year. He joined the mattress manufacturer in 2018, serving as executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Tempur Sealy U.S. until 2025, when he assumed the role of Somnigroup executive vice president, special projects.
Prior to joining Somnigroup, Murray was employed by the Gillette Co., which was acquired by Proctor & Gamble in 2005, from 1994 to 2007. He has also held senior vice president of marketing positions in leading consumer technology companies like TomTom Inc., Carbonite and ADT. Murray earned a bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University and attended the University of Connecticut Graduate School of Business.
The Irwin Warren Lecture in Advertising and Digital Media is an annual lecture hosted by the Department of Integrated Strategic Communication and the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information.
The lecture honors Irwin Warren, a pioneer of some of the nation’s leading advertising campaigns. During his more than 40-year advertising career, Warren worked at Doyle Dane Bernbach, BBDO and other leading agencies before moving to McCann Erickson, the world’s largest advertising agency, where he retired as senior creative director in 2006. This series was established in 2015 by Warren’s co-worker at Johnson & Johnson, Patrick Mutchler, a UK School of Journalism and Media graduate.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.