Contact: Jennifer Hollingshead
Office: (573) 882-0601
E-mail: hollingsheadj@umsystem.edu
UM System Executive Vice President Ronald J. Turner has announced his intention to retire Dec. 31, 2004. Turner has 42 years of experience in higher education administration, including more than 33 years of service to the University of Missouri.
"It has been a special privilege to serve the students, faculty and staff of the University of Missouri since the 1960's and to work closely with so many outstanding and talented members of the University of Missouri community on and off campus."Dr. Ronald J. Turner |
Turner joined the University in 1965 and served as associate director, project manager, and producer in the Office of Instructional Television at the University of Missouri-Columbia. In the early 1970's he served as one of the founding officers of the University of Mid-America, a pioneering distance education consortium of Big-Eight and Big-Ten universities located in Lincoln, Ne. Turner returned to hold a variety of administrative and academic positions at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. In 1985, he moved to the University of Missouri's central administration as special assistant to the president. He served as vice president for University Outreach and Director of Cooperative Extension from 1993 to 2003. He was appointed executive vice president of the University of Missouri System in 1998.
"It has been a special privilege to serve the students, faculty and staff of the University of Missouri since the 1960's and to work closely with so many outstanding and talented members of the University of Missouri community on and off campus," Turner said.
Turner has been active in international educational development in Africa, Latin America, and Ireland. He served as management consultant to the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute in Nairobi. Since its inception in 1986, he has directed the University of Missouri's academic exchange program with a historically disadvantaged South African university, the University of Western Cape. The UM/UWC program has been recognized internationally as a model international education program. Turner holds the distinction of being the first American to be awarded an honorary doctor's degree from a historically black South African university. Turner is a native Missourian and a graduate of UM-Columbia where he earned master's and Ph.D. degrees in speech. Previously he earned a bachelor's degree in education from Southwest Missouri State College.
"Dr. Turner has been an excellent administrator who cares deeply about this institution and the importance of the Land-Grant university mission," UM President Elson S. Floyd said. "We owe Ron a debt of gratitude for his long years of service to Missouri, cooperative extension, and higher education."
Stephen W. Lehmkuhle appointed Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dr. Floyd has decided not to retain the position of executive vice president after Turner retires. He has appointed Dr. Stephen W. Lehmkuhle to be UM Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. The appointment became effective Sept. 1, 2004. Lehmkuhle will retain his current duties as UM vice president for academic affairs and assume most of the responsibilities previously held by the executive vice president.
As senior vice president, Lehmkuhle will act on the president's behalf when the president is away. Lehmkuhle joined the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1985 as an associate professor of psychology. He was appointed UM acting vice president for academic affairs in 1996 and was permanently appointed to the position in 1998.
Lehmkuhle has a bachelor's in psychology from Wright State University and a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Vanderbilt University.
Reviewed 2010-06-17