Trudy Turner, distinguished professor emerita of anthropology at UW-Milwaukee, has been elected to the 2025 class of fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Becoming an AAAS fellow is one of the top honors awarded to U.S. scientists. Fellows are nominated by their peers for their efforts to advance science or its applications.
The class of 2025 includes 449 scientists, engineers and others from across 24 disciplines, including astronomy, biological sciences, chemistry, neuroscience and physics. AAAS is one of the world’s largest general scientific societies and publisher of the “Science” family of journals. It began the tradition of naming fellows in 1874. Previous fellows include Thomas Edison, W.E.B. DuBois, Maria Mitchell, Steven Chu, Ellen Ochoa and Irwin M. Jacobs.
Research on primate life history
Turner, who spent almost her entire career at UWM, was honored for her “distinguished contributions to understandings of primate life history and genetics, and for advocacy for ethical research and gender equality in science.”
An internationally known scholar, Turner’s work has used ideas and tools from genetics, endocrinology, anatomy, behavior and ecology to study vervet monkeys in sub-Saharan Africa. She conducted field research in South Africa and was an affiliated faculty member of the Department of Genetics at the University of the Free State in South Africa. She co-founded and co-chaired PEGG, the South African Primatology Association.
Turner has authored more than 100 publications, including two books. She also received federal grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health and the Fulbright Foundation, and served as a program director at NSF.
She received the 2023 Distinguished Primatologist Award from the Midwest Primate Interest Group and the Gabriel Lasker Lifetime Achievement Award for Service to the American Association of Biological Anthropologists. She continues her professional work as a member of the editorial board of the “American Journal of Biological Anthropology,” and as treasurer and vice president of membership for the International Primatological Society.
“Dr. Turner’s international reputation is based on her innovative studies and landmark publications in primatology,” said Jason Sherman, associate professor and chair of UWM’s Department of Anthropology. “She is also recognized for her transformative work on ethics and gender equity in biological anthropology, which has had lasting impacts on that field.”
Advocating for women in science
Throughout her career, Turner worked to boost the status of women in scientific careers. In one paperfocused on the experience of women in biological anthropology, she and her coauthors called for more mentoring, networking and professional development opportunities for women in the field.
At UWM, Turner chaired the Anthropology Department from 1996 to 2000 and later served 13 years as Secretary of the University, a role that provides technical, informational and administrative support to governance activities on campus.
Peter Dunn, distinguished professor emeritus of biological sciences at UWM, is also an AAAS fellow, elected in 2020.
