Dr. Turner is Professor, Doctorate in Educational Leadership, California State University, Sacramento and Professor Emerita, Higher & Postsecondary Education, Lincoln Professor of Ethics and Education, Arizona State University.  Dr. Turner’s research and teaching interests include access, equity and leadership in higher education, faculty gender and racial/ethnic diversity, organizational change, and the use of qualitative methods for policy research.

Her research includes a Spencer Foundation funded study of the faculty search committee process and hiring of faculty of color, a PEW Foundation funded study of Latino faculty in theological education, a Ford Foundation funded study of Diversity in Academe Post-Grutter, a Stanford University funded study of Pre-16 reforms and the promise of a seamless educational system, a study of women of color presidents in higher education, and a study of faculty and students of color in mathematical sciences and related fields. Dr. Turner is the recipient of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Scholars of Color in Education Distinguished Career Contribution Award (2009) and the AERA Dr. Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Lifetime Scholarship (2009), the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Council on Ethnic Participation Mildred Garcia Award for Exemplary Scholarship (2008), and the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education Dean’s Faculty Excellence Award (2008, 2009). Recently, she was a Visiting Scholar with the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research (SIHER) and named a Distinguished Alumni Scholar by Stanford University. She received her doctorate in Administration and Policy Analysis from the Stanford University School of Education.