William Clair Turner, Jr., the James T. and Alice Mead Cleland Professor Emeritus of the Practice of Preaching at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, passed away on July 26. He was 78 years old.
A native of Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Turner was a member of the Duke University community for five decades, beginning in the 1960s as an undergraduate student. In 1966, he was one of the first two Black student-athletes to integrate the Duke football team, joining as a walk-on player. Throughout his undergraduate years, Dr. Turner was a dedicated advocate for civil rights on campus. Along with other students, he organized a Silent Vigil following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., championed equal rights for the Black community at Duke, and successfully petitioned the university to create a Black Church Affairs Office. A three-time graduate of Duke, Dr. Turner earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1971, his master of divinity degree in 1974, and his doctorate in religion in 1984.
Dr. Turner’s professional career with Duke began as a staff member. He served as dean of Black Affairs (now the Center for Multicultural Affairs), assistant provost, and acting director of what is now the African & African American studies program. In 1979, he joined the Divinity School faculty on a part-time basis and became full-time in 1982.
As a professor, Dr. Turner taught courses in homiletics, worship, and African American religious traditions and researched pneumatology, preaching, and the theology of the Black church. He also served in various leadership roles at the Divinity School, including director of field education and director of Black Church Studies. He retired in 2018.
