Murray Cunningham was born in the small town of Mathinna in north east Tasmania and joined the Tasmanian Forestry Commission in 1949 after graduating in forestry. In 1955 Cunningham was awarded a PhD fellowship from Australian Paper Manufacturers to study at the University of Melbourne using sites in Victorian wet eucalypt forests. Cunningham's PhD studies greatly advanced the understanding of the silviculture and management of E. regnans forests. He focussed on factors controlling seedling regeneration, including seed development, seedfall and the fate of dispersed seed, seed germination and seed survival, and seedbed preparation. Cunningham's findings, combined with those of Max Gilbert, laid the basis for developing the operational techniques for harvesting and regeneration of wet eucalypt forests. Cunningham became a Commissioner at the Tasmanian Forestry Commission until his retirement in the mid 1980s. In 1985 he received the NW Jolly Medal for his promotion of a balanced forest management ethic, which included the recognition of non-wood values.