Distinguished for his contributions to the electronic theory of small molecules including: extensions to the molecular orbital theory of chemical valency; the development of new methods for the electrostatic calculation of molecular energies ; detailed investigations of the method of atoms in molecules which have resulted in new techniques for calculating the binding energies of molecules ; and the derivation of a new method of calculating potential energy curves for doubly positive diatomic ions in terms of those for the related neutral molecules. Hurley was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, during 1955-56, and Visiting Professor of Theoretical Chemistry at Iowa State University during 1962-63.