In Memoriam: John E. Turner

In Memoriam: John E. Turner, ISA Executive Director, 1970-73

    The International Studies Association lost one of its stalwarts when John E. Turner, Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, passed away.  Professor Turner took the leadership of ISA at a time when it really took off, expanding its interdisciplinary and international focus, and he played an essential role in leading ISA to the status that it enjoys today.

    Born in England, Turner’s family moved to rural South Dakota when he was quite young.  He did his undergraduate studies at Yankton College in South Dakota and, after service during World War II, he began graduate study at the University of Minnesota where he received his Ph.D. in Political Science in 1950.  Turner then spent his entire academic career at Minnesota, rising through the ranks from Instructor to Regents’ Professor, the title which he held at the time of his retirement in 1988.  Turner was a broad ranging scholar of comparative politics, but unlike many in that field his comparative work spanned the globe, with special interests in the politics of the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and Japan.  He is perhaps best known for his classic work with Robert Holt, The Political Basis of Economic Development: An Exploration in Comparative Political Analysis (Van Nostrand, 1966). 

    Turner became executive director of ISA in 1970 at a time of transition for the association.  His priorities included broadening the disciplinary base of its membership beyond political science and international relations to include comparative work cutting across a wide range of social science disciplines.  His other major priority was broadening the international visibility, participation, and focus of ISA.  It was during his term as Executive Director that the association held its first annual conference outside of the continental United States in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1971, an initial step in his vision that the association would one day become truly global in its reach and focus.

    At the same time, ISA was by present standards a very small organization literally operating on a “shoe string.”  With offices located in the basement of the “Peoples’ Church” (it was 1970 after all!) near the West Bank campus of the University of Minnesota, Turner labored tirelessly with only one part-time administrative assistant to run the organization virtually single-handedly.  Many of us who were his colleagues and graduate students “volunteered” our time and energy to assist him in this process.  Among the colleagues who got their first baptism in ISA during those years were colleagues Davis Bobrow (later an ISA President), Terry Hopmann and Bob Kudrle (later ISA Vice Presidents and ISQ Editors), and Brian Job (later ISA Treasurer and ISQ Editor).  Graduate students also spent frequent hours running the mimeograph machine on which the ISA Newsletter was produced each month (not only was this prior to the internet, but even high volume copying was too expensive for the association) and recording membership in a file box of 4 x 6 cards on which all membership records were kept.  These “volunteers” included Tom Volgy (current ISA Director), Don Sylvan at Ohio State, Barry Hughes at the University of Denver, Steve Chan at University of Colorado and many others who got their start in the ISA basement under Turner’s guidance and have since become leaders in the association.  John was a true “Stakhanovite” in his dedication to his work, and he threw all his energy during his time into his vision of a vibrant and global community of scholars working cooperatively to advance international studies.

    John’s last ISA convention was the 1993 meeting in Acapulco, Mexico.  Although his eyesight had almost failed him by this time, he was delighted to see what had become of his beloved association.  This meeting, attended by scholars from all over the world, co-sponsored by the Mexican International Studies Association, and conducted in both Spanish and English, represented for him the fulfillment of many of his dreams for ISA.  We only regret that his declining health prevented him from attending the first World International Studies Conference last August in Istanbul, an event in which he would have truly rejoiced.

    All of us who knew John Turner realize that we are unlikely to see his likes again.  And although most of us have forgotten the humble roots from which today’s ISA sprang,  there can be little doubt that ISA has become what it is today in no small part due to the tireless effort and dedication that John Turner put into the organization during his term as Executive Director.  All of his friends, and the entire International Studies Association, will miss him greatly.

    Terry Hopmann and Bob Kudrle