Keith Whisnant Turner

Submitted By jd0307 on Mon, 10/10/2022 - 8:12am

Keith Whisnant Turner, 73, of Corinth, an associate professor of applied gerontology who worked at UNT from 1991 to 2020, died Sept. 24 in Plano.

After a professional career serving in aging and mental health programs, he began his faculty career at the University of Cincinnati and joined the UNT faculty in what was then the Center for Studies in Aging. He helped build the graduate degrees in applied gerontology, which included one of the earliest online master's degrees, and directed field internship placement for undergraduate and graduate students. His research covered the development and evaluation of community level programs and services for the aged, people with disabilities and populations with special health care needs. In 2013, he was part of a group that helped establish a gerontology partnership in Nigeria.

He served as an advisor and built partnerships with organizations such as Denton County Geriatric Services Workgroup, the North Central Texas Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging, the Denton County MH/MR Authority, the Denton County Health Department and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Inc. He also worked as a consultant, providing board leadership training, strategic planning technical assistance, and dispute resolution systems and mediation for nonprofit agencies and other organizations. 

Turner was a member of the Faculty Senate and an advisor for the UNT Gerontological Student Association, and he served on numerous other committees. Colleagues remember him for his support of his students and his passion for social justice and equity.

He earned his psychology degree from Xavier University in 1971, his master’s degree in psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 1974, and an interdisciplinary doctoral degree in geriatrics, health policy/administration and urban planning from the University of Cincinnati in 1989.

 

Keith Whisnant Turner, 73, of Corinth, an associate professor of applied gerontology who worked at UNT from 1991 to 2020, died Sept. 24 in Plano.

After a professional career serving in aging and mental health programs, he began his faculty career at the University of Cincinnati and joined the UNT faculty in what was then the Center for Studies in Aging. He helped build the graduate degrees in applied gerontology, which included one of the earliest online master's degrees, and directed field internship placement for undergraduate and graduate students. His research covered the development and evaluation of community level programs and services for the aged, people with disabilities and populations with special health care needs. In 2013, he was part of a group that helped establish a gerontology partnership in Nigeria.

He served as an advisor and built partnerships with organizations such as Denton County Geriatric Services Workgroup, the North Central Texas Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging, the Denton County MH/MR Authority, the Denton County Health Department and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Inc. He also worked as a consultant, providing board leadership training, strategic planning technical assistance, and dispute resolution systems and mediation for nonprofit agencies and other organizations. 

Turner was a member of the Faculty Senate and an advisor for the UNT Gerontological Student Association, and he served on numerous other committees. Colleagues remember him for his support of his students and his passion for social justice and equity.

He earned his psychology degree from Xavier University in 1971, his master’s degree in psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 1974, and an interdisciplinary doctoral degree in geriatrics, health policy/administration and urban planning from the University of Cincinnati in 1989.

 

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