Ralph H. Turner
{{short description|American sociologist}}
{{infobox scientist
| name = Ralph H. Turner
| image =
| birth_date = December 15, 1919
| birth_place = Effingham, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|04|05|1919|12|15}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| education = {{hlist|Pasadena City College|University of Southern California|University of Wisconsin|University of Chicago}}
| workplaces = {{hlist|United States Navy|University of California, Los Angeles}}
| partner = Christine {{nee|Hanks}}
| children = 2
}}
Ralph Herbert Turner (December 15, 1919–April 5, 2014) was an American sociologist who researched collective behavior and social movements. He served as president of the American Sociological Association and editor of Sociometry and the Annual Review of Sociology. He was the recipient of both a Fulbright grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Early life and education
Ralph Herbert Turner was born on December 15, 1919, in Effingham, Illinois, to parents Herbert and Hilda {{nee|Bohn}}. His parents had emigrated from England two months before he was born. His family moved to Pasadena when he was young; he often hiked and camped in the San Gabriel Mountains, becoming an Eagle Scout establishing a life-long love of nature.{{cite web|url=https://www.palipost.com/ralph-herbert-turner-dec-15-1919-april-5-2014/| title=Ralph Herbert Turner Dec. 15, 1919 – April 5, 2014| website=Palisadian-Post|date=15 May 2014| access-date=31 December 2020}} He first attended Pasadena City College, a community college, before transferring to the University of Southern California to complete his bachelor's degree. He stayed at USC to complete a master's degree. He briefly studied at University of Wisconsin before serving World War II, though finished his PhD at the University of Chicago in 1948.{{cite web|url=https://www.asanet.org/about/governance-and-leadership/council/presidents/ralph-turner| title=Ralph H. Turner| website=American Sociological Association| year=2014| first1=Robert | last1=Emerson | first2=David | last2=Snow}}
Career
During World War II, Turner served in the United States Navy. He served as a disbursing officer on the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier, in the Pacific theater. He accepted a position as lecturer at University of California, Los Angeles in 1948 in their joint department for sociology and anthropology. When the joint department split, Turner became the first chair of the sociology department in 1963, remaining chair through 1968. He retired in 1990, having spent forty-two years at UCLA.
He was editor of the journal Sociometry (now Social Psychology Quarterly) from 1962 to 1964. He served as acting editor of the Annual Review of Sociology in 1978, then as editor from 1981 to 1986.{{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev.so.13.010187.100001|title=Preface by the Editors and the Editorial Committee|journal=Annual Review of Sociology|year=1987|volume=13}} Throughout his career he authored over 120 articles and reviews, as well as eight books. He co-authored three editions of Collective Behavior with Lewis Killian in 1957, 1972, and 1987; The Social Context of Ambition in 1964; Robert Park: On Social Control and Collective Behavior in 1967; Family Interaction in 1970; and Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives in 1981. Altogether, about half of his scholarly publications involved collective behavior and social movements.
Awards and honors
Turner received a Fulbright grant in 1956 to conduct sociological research in England for a year.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66498271/award-grant-to-van-nuys-researcher/| title=Award grant to Van Nuys researcher| work=Valley News| location=Van Nuys, California| date=5 July 1956| page=67}}
He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964 for his work in sociology.{{cite web|url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/ralph-h-turner/| title=Ralph H. Turner| access-date=31 December 2020| website=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation}} Turner was the president of the American Sociological Association in 1968 and 1969. He received the UCLA Emeritus of the Year award in 1997 and the Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award in 2002.
Personal life and death
At the University of Southern California, he met Christine Hanks, who was also a sociology major. He and Christine married in 1943 and remained married until her death in 2001. They had a son and daughter together. Turner's hobbies included hiking and wildlife photography. He died on April 5, 2014, in Los Angeles at the age of 94.{{cite web|url=https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/in-memoriam-ucla-sociologist-ralph-turner| title=In memoriam: UCLA sociologist Ralph Turner| website=UCLA Newsroom| date=19 November 2014| access-date=31 December 2020}}
References
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{{American Sociological Association presidents}}
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Category:People from Effingham, Illinois
Category:People from Pasadena, California
Category:Pasadena City College alumni
Category:University of Southern California alumni
Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Category:University of Chicago alumni
Category:University of California, Los Angeles faculty
Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II
Category:American people of English descent