Edward D. Turner Ph.D. As the first African American ... - UC Davis

Edward D. Turner Ph.D.
As the first African American professor on the UC Davis campus, Dr. Edward D. Turner has secured his legacy
as a pioneer and trailblazer for all African American scholars who would follow him. His dedication to teaching
provided his colleagues and students with an example of a successful professor who was comfortable with
instruction and his academic discipline.
Born in 1930 in Topeka, Kansas, Dr. Turner grew up as one of six children. Following high school, he enlisted
in the U.S. Army’s 11 th Airborne Division in the late 1940s. After an honorable discharge in 1954, Dr. Turner
began his undergraduate studies at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. He earned a Bachelor of Science
degree in psychology in 1958 and continued his studies at the University of Kansas, Lawrence before finishing
his Ph.D. at Kansas State University in 1964.
Dr. Turner began his teaching career at UC Davis in the fall semester of 1964 as an assistant professor in the
Psychology Department. He was later listed in the 1966 UC Davis course catalog among the “Departmental
Major Advisors” and was also noted as the “Subject Representative” for
the teaching minor (30 units in psychology). 1 Following the publication
of his Ph.D. dissertation in 1967, Dr. Turner was given his first full
teaching assignment; a Psychology 3 class entitled “Quantitative
Description of Behavior.” 2
In the years spanning 1968 through 1979, Dr. Turner’s core instructional
course load would grow to include the following psychology classes:
“A Quantitative Description of Behavior” taught with Neal A.
Kroll, Ph.D.
“Advanced Statistical Methods In Psychology”
“Laboratory in Perception” taught with Thomas A. Natsoulas,
Ph.D. (this class was also provided during the Summer Session)
“Advanced Research Methods” taught with Charles T. Tart,
Ph.D.
The 1970s would see Dr. Turner collaborate with his colleague Dr. Carl
Jorgensen in developing and teaching a class entitled “Social
Psychology of Black Americans.” He would teach this class with Dr.
Jorgensen until his retirement in 1980.
The aforementioned classes, along with his departmental responsibilities for his students, would remain a staple
of Dr. Turner’s academic life throughout his tenure at UC Davis. His contributions to the instructional
environment of the still young Psychology Department during this period were instrumental in its growth as a
rigorous academic program.
1 General Catalog, Davis, Fall, Winter, and Spring Semesters, University of California, Davis, May 9, 1966, p. 290
2 UC Davis /General Catalog, 1967-68, Vol. 7, No. 4, University of California, Davis, May 1967, pp. 295 – 297.

Dr. Turner’s contributions to the growth and development of ethnic studies programs on the UC Davis campus
also cannot be overlooked. As noted in the University of California Digital Archives (2004):
“During the spring of 1969 some 50 African-American students, accompanied by psychology professor Ed
Turner, the sole African-American faculty member on campus, marched on the Chancellor's office to demand,
in part, creation of a Department of African-American Studies. The negotiations begun by Chancellor Emil
Mrak were continued under Chancellor James Meyer. It was decided to create an African-American Studies
Program, and FTE were set aside for faculty with expertise in the black experience. Ed Turner, appointed
Director of Black Studies, consulted with a newly formed curriculum development committee consisting of
black political sociologist and Berkeley graduate student Hardy Frye, black cultural geographer and UCD
lecturer Charles C. Irby, and white political sociologist John Leggett. Their report "Whither Black Studies,"
produced in August 1971, became the program's planning document. 3
Dr. Turner’s contributions to the initial development of UC Davis’ Black Studies program enabled the
recruitment of the professors, administrators and students who would take the program to its next level. Over the
next 30 years, a number of competent scholars and administrators, as well as hard working students worked to
ensure the programs permanence on campus.
Dr. Turner advised and supported the African American faculty who joined him at UC Davis. He also worked
with university staff to make UC Davis a more supportive environment for students of color, and to assist
students of all ethnicities facing financial difficulties or in need of social support. His house was a meeting
place for politically disaffected persons. Dr. Turner greatly contributed to the morale and cohesion of UC
Davis's African American community.
The UC Davis African American and African Studies Program and the broad range of African American
academic and social support organizations now located on the UC Davis campus are a testament and a validation
of the vision and accomplishments of Dr. Turner, his colleagues and the students of his era and beyond. The
Edward D. Turner Memorial Golf Tournament and its goal of establishing an endowment for the African
American and African Studies Program and for student scholarships is a fitting tribute to Dr. Turner’s legacy and
all he sought to accomplish at UC Davis.
3 “African-American and African Studies”, University of California Digital Archives, Regents of the University of
California, 1999 – 2005.