Carmen E. Turner (1931 - April 9, 1992) was an American administrator who served as Under Secretary of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

and General Manager of the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...

(Metro). Turner was the first African-American woman to lead a major

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...

agency.

Biography

Turner was born in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) f ...

, the daughter of Carmen Pawley and James Pawley. She grew up in Washington D.C. and in 1968 graduated from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

, later earning a master's degree in public administration and political science from American University (1972). She started government service as a typist and rose to acting director of civil rights at the United States Transportation Department. At USDOT, she helped to make it possible for women members of the Coast Guard to be allowed to serve on shipboard. In 1977, Turner became chief of administration at Metro. In May 1983, she stepped in as acting general manager of Metro and two months later was promoted to general manager. As general manager, Turner won wide praise for running what was then the nation's second-largest rail and fourth-largest bus transit system. She was responsible for 7000 employees and the operation of some 2000 buses and rail cars with a combined ridership of 700,000 a day. During her seven-year tenure at Metro, it underwent major expansion, from 47 to 63 stations. Annual ridership grew to 70 million passengers. In 1988, Metro was named the nation's best public transportation system by the

American Public Transit Association The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit group of approximately 1,500 public and private sector member organizations that promotes and advocates for the interests of the public transportation industry in the United S ...

. The highlight of Turner's Metro career came in 1990 when Congress authorized $1.3 billion for completing the 103-mile (166 km) system. Turner left Metro in 1990 to become Under Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, with responsibilities similar to a chief operating officer. She died of breast cancer in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Carmen E. 1930s births 1992 deaths Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority general managers Smithsonian Institution people People from Teaneck, New Jersey African-American women in business 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American people