Turner, Otis, 1940-

Otis Turner is a minister of the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. and has also worked in several colleges. Born in Georgia, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Albany State College (Georgia) in 1962 and attended the Candler School of Theology at Emory University as the first African American ever accepted to this institution. Turner earned his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Emory in 1969. In 1974 he was awarded his Ph.D. in Social Ethics from Emory. His dissertation is entitled, "Toward an Ethic of Black Liberation Based on the Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Stokely Carmichael's Concept of Black Power."

Turner was an assistant professor of religion at Wofford College in South Carolina from 1972-1977. He then worked as Assistant Dean and Director of the Division of Student Affairs at South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind (1977-1978). During this same period Turner was the Director of the Council on Church and Race for the Presbyterian Church (USA), based in Atlanta, Georgia. Presently he is the Coordinator for Racial Justice Policy Development as well as the Administrator for the Fund for Legal Aid in the Racial Ethnic Ministry Unit of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Louisville, Kentucky.

From the description of Otis Turner papers, 1978-1990. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122615650

The Reverend Doctor Otis Turner was born in Southern Georgia in 1940. Son of Plumpton and Enda Turner, he is a minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA). He received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Albany State College in 1962 and attended the Candler School of Theology at Emory University as the first African American ever accepted to this institution. He earned his Bachelor of Divinity Degree at Emory in 1969. In 1974 Turner received his Ph.D. in Social Ethics from Emory. His dissertation is entitled, “Toward an Ethic of Black Liberation Based on the Philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael's Concept of Black Power.”

Turner was an assistant professor of religion at Wofford College in South Carolina from 1972-1977. He later worked as assistant dean and Director of the Division of Student Affairs at South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind (1977-78). From 1978-1988 Turner was the director of the Council on Church and Race for the Presbyterian Church (USA), based in Atlanta, Georgia. Presently he is the Coordinator for Racial Justice Policy Development as well as the Administrator of the Fund for Legal Aid in the Racial Ethnic Ministry Unit of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Louisville, Kentucky.

Turner has received several awards and fellowships. Among them are the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Award, the Rockefeller Fellowship, and the Presbyterian Graduate Fellowship. He is a member of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, SCLC, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He has lectured around the world at institutions including The University of the Western Cape in Capetown, South Africa, and Tainang Theological Seminary in Tainang, China.

Turner has published articles in several journals such as the Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center. He has worked as a contributing editor for the “Jackson Advocate,” and “Racial Ethnic Torch.”

From the guide to the Otis Turner papers, 1978-1990, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.)