Ralph Herbert Turner (December 15, 1919–April 5, 2014) was an American sociologist who researched

collective behavior The expression collective behavior was first used by Franklin Henry Giddings and employed later by Robert Park and Ernest Burgess, Herbert Blumer, Ralph H. Turner and Lewis Killian, and Neil Smelser to refer to social processes and events w ...

and

social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...

s. He served as president of the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of ''

Sociometry Sociometry is a quantitative method for measuring social relationships. It was developed by psychotherapist Jacob L. Moreno and Helen Hall Jennings in their studies of the relationship between social structures and psychological well-being, and ...

'' and the ''

Annual Review of Sociology The ''Annual Review of Sociology'' is an annual peer-reviewed review journal published by Annual Reviews since 1975. It is abstracted and indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index. As of 2022, ''Journal Citation Reports'' gives the journal a ...

''. He was the recipient of both a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

grant and a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

Early life and education

Ralph Herbert Turner was born on December 15, 1919 in

Effingham, Illinois Effingham is a city in and the county seat of Effingham County, Illinois, Effingham County, Illinois, United States. It is in South Central Illinois. Its population was 12,252 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Effingham, IL Micropolita ...

to parents Herbert and Hilda . 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 The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Tr ...

, becoming an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

establishing a life-long love of nature. He first attended

Pasadena City College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a Public college, public community college in Pasadena, California. History Pasadena, California, Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. From 1928 to 1953, it operated as a four- ...

, a community college, before transferring to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

to complete his bachelor's degree. He stayed at USC to complete a master's degree. He briefly studied at

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

before serving World War II, though finished his PhD at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1948.

Career

During World War II, Turner served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. He served as a disbursing officer on the USS ''Lexington'', an

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

, in the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. He accepted a position as lecturer at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

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

of the journal ''Sociometry'' (now ''

Social Psychology Quarterly ''Social Psychology Quarterly'' is a Peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes theoretical and empirical papers in the field of Social psychology (sociology), social psychology. The editors-in-chief are Jody Clay-Warner, Dawn Robin ...

'') from 1962 to 1964. He served as acting editor of the ''

'' in 1978, then as editor from 1981 to 1986. 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

and

Awards and honors

Turner received a

grant in 1956 to conduct sociological research in England for a year. He was awarded a

in 1964 for his work in sociology. Turner was the president of the

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 Wildlife photography is a genre of photography concerned with documenting various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat. As well as requiring photography skills, wildlife photographers may need field craft skills. For example, some anima ...

. He died on April 5, 2014 in Los Angeles at the age of 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Ralph H. 1919 births 2014 deaths People from Effingham, Illinois People from Pasadena, California Pasadena City College alumni University of Southern California alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Chicago alumni University of California, Los Angeles faculty United States Navy personnel of World War II American people of English descent Social Psychology Quarterly editors Annual Reviews (publisher) editors