Robert Gerald Turner (born November 25, 1945) is an American

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ...

. He served as the tenth

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

(SMU), holding office from 1995 to 2025. Previously, he was the Chancellor of the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

. At SMU, Turner was lauded as a "transformational" figure who helped rehabilitate the university's national reputation following the infamous 1980s football scandal and NCAA death penalty. His 30-year tenure as president, the longest in SMU history, was notable for massive campus expansion, growth in the endowment, the university's joining of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC), and attempts to legally separate the university from the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

. During his career, Turner was one of the most highly-compensated university presidents in the United States. Despite his successes, Turner drew criticism for failing to translate his fundraising prowess into significant improvements in the national rankings of SMU and its constituent colleges. He also courted controversy for his heavy-handed approach to certain issues, such as bringing

George W. Bush Presidential Center The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which opened on April 25, 2013, is a complex that includes former United States President George W. Bush's presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush Policy Institute, and the offices of the Geor ...

to SMU and the university's response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Before coming to SMU, Turner served as

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the University of Mississippi ("Ole Miss") from 1984 to 1995. Under his leadership, Ole Miss increased its endowment from $80 million to $640 million.

Early life and education

Turner was born in 1945 in

New Boston, Texas New Boston is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. Boston was named for an early storekeeper in the settlement, W.J. Boston. The coming of the railroads led to the location of two more Bostons. A depot was built approximately four mile ...

. He received an A.A. from

Lubbock Christian College Lubbock Christian University (LCU) is a private Christian university associated with the Churches of Christ and located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Chartered originally as part of a grade school called Lubbock Christian School in 1954, the ...

, and graduated from

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institutio ...

with a B.S. in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

in 1968. He then graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

with an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Career

From 1975 to 1979, Turner was a professor at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

at Malibu, California. He was the vice president of the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

from 1979 to 1984. Turner served as the chancellor of the

from 1984 to 1995. At 38, Turner was considered among the youngest university presidents. While at Ole Miss, he fired

Billy Brewer Homer Ervin "Billy" Brewer (October 8, 1934 – May 12, 2018) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Southeastern Louisiana University from 1974 to 1979, Louisiana Tech University from 1980 to ...

, the longtime popular football coach, due to allegations of recruiting violations. Successful programs under Turner's leadership grew the school's endowment from $8 million to $64 million. Since 1995, Turner has served as the president of

. He helped lead the school's efforts to attract the

, to be located on the SMU campus. In 2016, he earned $3.3 million, and was the third-highest-paid of all U.S. private-university presidents. In 2008, he earned $2.7 million.Staff Reports, 'Vandy chancellor among top earners', ''

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, w ...

'', November 14, 201

/ref> Turner was co-Chair of the

Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, often referred to simply as the Knight Commission, is a panel of American academic, athletic and sports leaders, with an eye toward reform of college athletics, particularly in regard to emphasiz ...

and Chair of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Subcommittee on Presidential Leadership of Internal and External Constituencies. He serves on the boards of the Methodist Hospital Foundation and the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

of Dallas, and has served on the boards of

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

of Dallas, the First Broadcasting Corporation,

J. C. Penney Penney OpCo LLC , doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalyst Brands portfolio along ...

(where he was part of the critical decision to change J.C. Penney's century old sales and discount program), Kronos Worldwide, American Beacon Funds, California Federal Preferred Capital Corporation, American Advantage Funds, Skytel Communications, ChemFirst Inc, the ChemFirst Foundation, AMFM, the First Mississippi Corporation, etc.

Personal life

Turner and his wife, Gail, a native of Graham, Texas, have two daughters. He is a member of the

Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ, also commonly known as the Church of Christ, is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations located around the world. Typically, their distinguishing beliefs are that of the necessity of baptism for salvation ...

References

External links

*
C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Turner, February 13, 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, R. Gerald 1946 births Living people American members of the Churches of Christ Abilene Christian University alumni Lubbock Christian University alumni University of Texas at Austin alumni University of Oklahoma people Chancellors of the University of Mississippi Presidents of Southern Methodist University People from New Boston, Texas

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links