Chancellor’s Professor, Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, IU School of Medicine
November 29, 1961 – July 16, 2010
Passed by the IUPUI Faculty Council at their meeting on September 7, 2010.
It is with great sadness that the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology and the Indiana University School of Medicine announce the untimely passing of Dr. Charles H. Turner who died peacefully at home on Friday evening (July 16, 2010) surrounded by his family.
Dr. Turner, born November 29, 1961 in Roswell, NM, was a Chancellor’s Professor and Associate Chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He also held a joint appointment within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery where he was Director of Orthopaedic Research.
Dr. Turner received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University in 1983 and Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University in 1987. He joined the faculty on the IUPUI campus in 1991 after four years with the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University. During his tenure, Dr. Turner became an internationally renowned expert in musculoskeletal biomechanics and bone biology, with particular interests in how bone responds to mechanical loading and skeletal genetics. He published over 250 scientific papers and gave over 100 invited presentations worldwide.
During his distinguished career, Dr. Turner won numerous awards including the prestigious Fuller Albright Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, a Young Investigator Award from the Whitaker Foundation and the Health Future Foundation. Dr. Turner was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers in 2002, and was awarded the Abraham M. Max Distinguished Professor Award in 2006 from the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology.
Reflecting Dr. Turner’s expertise, he served as an expert consultant for many agencies including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, National Research Council, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Food and Drug Administration, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Swiss National Science Foundation, Austrian Science Fund, Israel Science Foundation and the Wellcome Trust ( England).
Throughout his career, Dr. Turner showed dedication to the training of young engineers and scientists at all levels. Many of these individuals were awarded prestigious young investigator awards while under Dr. Turner’s tutelage and have since gone on to successful careers in academia and industry.
Most importantly, Dr. Turner was a faithful and devoted father to his two children, Jeff and Emily; son to his parents, Bob and Mary Turner; sibling to his brothers, Robert and David, and sister, Anne Marie Puglisi; and uncle to his nieces and nephews, Robert, II, Jean Marie, Elizabeth, Grace, Jonathon, and Victoria Turner, all of whom survive him.
THUS, BE IT RESOLVED: that this memorial resolution be adopted by the Faculty Senate of the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI and placed in the school’s minutes and its permanent archives; that a copy of this memorial resolution be delivered to his family. This memorial resolution will also be placed in the minutes of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis Faculty Council with a moment of silence observed in his honor.
This resolution is written on behalf of Professor Turner’s students, trainees, and the staff and faculty of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. This resolution was prepared by Ed Berbari, Chairman of Biomedical Engineering.