Robert Townley Turner was born July 8, 1917, in Eureka, Utah. He received his AB with honors (1939), MA (1940), and Ph.D. (1945) from the University of California, Los Angeles; his doctoral dissertation was Europe and the Belgian Revolution, 1789-1790 . In 1943 he accepted a position at Montana State University in Missoula, Montana (now The University of Montana), teaching history, political science, and international relations. In 1954 he became a full professor, and in 1955 became chairman of the Department of History and Political Science. His areas of specialization inluded european diplomacy, 1815 to the present; modern war, 1789 to the present; and geopolitics. From 1956 to1959 he was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. From 1956 to 1967 he was Director of the University Museum. During his teaching career at the University of Montana he sat on practically all University and Faculty committees. He co-authored, with Dorothy M. Johnson, the Bedside Book of Bastards, and also published articles on military affairs. Dr. Turner died in June, 1972.
From the guide to the Robert Townley Turner Papers, 1927-1972, (University of Montana--Missoula Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)
