Howard Sinclair Turner recently passed away after a short illness at Bryn Mawr Hospital at the age of 100. He was the last member of the founding Turner family to take the helm of the Turner Construction Co., one of the largest international construction management companies.
Turner Construction was founded in 1902 by Howard Turner’s uncle, Henry Chandlee Turner and quickly found its niche in the construction industry using the new material of reinforced concrete.
Born in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania in 1911, Howard Turner was the second of three sons of J. Archer Turner, Jr, who was President of the Turner Construction from 1941 to 1946. Howard graduated from Swarthmore College in 1933 and was subsequently elected an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa. He completed a doctorate in organic chemistry and chemical engineering in 1936 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He married Katharine (Kay) Swett, whom he met on a blind date, and they remained married until her death in 2003.
After graduating from MIT, Turner worked as a research chemist with the DuPont Corp. where he worked on novel uses, including for parachutes and food packaging, of a new synthetic material – nylon. He then joined Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Co. in 1946 to lead their new research and development division. In 1954, Turner joined Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. as the vice president of research and development.
Turner joined the Board of Directors of Turner Construction in 1952. In 1965, he was selected to serve as President of Turner Construction. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 1968 to 1971. Turner served as Chairman of the Board from 1971 to 1978. From 1978 to 1982, he served as Chairman of the Executive Committee.
Under his leadership, the company grew from seven offices in the U.S. to operations in 20 cities; the company’s community affairs program was formalized and the Turner School of Construction Management for minorities and women was established; and the company’s international division was launched with operations in four countries. The company's sales grew from $591 million in 1965 to $1.7 billion by 1978.
Turner was also very active outside his responsibilities as the leader at Turner Construction. He served as a director of GAF, Teacher’s Insurance and Annuity Assoc., Ingersoll Rand, ASARCO, Dime Savings Bank of New York, and Jones and Laughlin. He was a trustee of the Wistar Research Institute, Swarthmore College, Rockefeller Institute, and Washington College. At the request of various administrations, he was a member of technical advisory committees for the Department of Commerce and the Post Office. Of note, he served on President Nixon’s Science Advisory Committee until it was dissolved when the members disagreed with the President in testimony before Congress. In 1966, he traveled with a delegation to Vietnam to develop a report on developing health, education, agriculture by President Johnson. He was elected to membership of the National Academy of Engineering in 1983, one of the proudest achievements of his remarkable career. Always quite humble about his scientific abilities, Turner’s view was that his greatest contribution was the ability to connect research with application.
Through the years of his marriage to Kay, they were inveterate travelers to Europe, Asia, Central and South America, and Australia. At the age of 82, he traveled to the North Pole on a nuclear-powered Russian ice breaker. He is survived by his three daughters, Susan Turner, a social worker of Boston, Holly Turner, a lawyer, (Don Carmichael) of Edmonton, Canada and Barbara Jean Turner, a physician-researcher, (Francisco Gonzalez-Scarano) of San Antonio, formerly of Wallingford and a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
A Memorial Service after the manner of Friends will be held on Saturday, May 5th at noon at the Swarthmore Meeting House with a reception to follow. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the American Friends Service Committee or the Carter Center. BD+C
Related Stories
| Feb 20, 2014
World's longest desk? Massive, undulating desk accommodates 145 office workers [video]
The desk is built from plywood and one continuous sheet of resin, and can serve all 145 office employees at once.
| Feb 19, 2014
It's a world record! Largest uninterrupted concrete pour kicks off Wilshire Grand project
Guinness World Records verifies the concrete pour as the largest ever
| Feb 19, 2014
Why you should start with a builder, part two
When it’s time to build or expand, the first step is finding a builder that fits your needs. Once you have found a builder, checked their references, visited with their previous clients and are ready to move forward, the next step is answering an initial set of questions that will direct your project.
| Feb 19, 2014
Slight rebound for Architecture Billings Index
After consecutive months of contracting demand for design services, AIA's Architecture Billings Index inched up nearly two points to 50.4 in January, indicating favorable business conditions.
| Feb 19, 2014
Sefaira Adds Daylighting Analysis to Performance Based Design Platform
Sefaira, the leader in software for high performance building design, today announced that its performance based design platform now includes daylighting analysis. With the addition of daylighting, Sefaira combines two critical design metrics in the same tool.
| Feb 19, 2014
Harvard's 'termite robots' can build any thing, any way [video]
The robots build by observing thier environment and then obeying a set of traffic rules programmed by researchers.
| Feb 18, 2014
Illinois leads Top 10 states for LEED in annual USGBC ranking
The U.S. Green Building Council has released its ranking of the Top 10 States for LEED, the world’s most widely used and recognized green building rating system.
| Feb 18, 2014
Study: 90% of healthcare providers say Affordable Care Act is 'step forward,' but major revisions needed
Providers are excited about opportunities to address long-term health issues in the U.S., but worries about the transition persist, according to a new study by Mortenson Construction.
| Feb 17, 2014
SmithGroupJJR President and CEO Carl Roehling appointed to serve on the AIA/AGC Joint Committee
Carl Roehling, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, president & CEO of SmithGroupJJR, has been appointed to serve on the Joint Committee of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).
| Feb 17, 2014
Developer plans to 'crowdfund' extended stay hotel in Manhattan
Want to own a piece of Manhattan hotel real estate? Developer Rodrigo Nino is inviting individual investors to put up $100,000 each for his latest project, 17 John.