Awards

School of Dentistry Distinguished Alumni Award - 2004

About Carol I. Turner

Carol Turner is a retired rear admiral in the United State Navy, who served as the Chief of the United States Navy Dental Corps from 2003 to 2007. She also served as the commanding officer of the National Naval Dental Center at Bethesda, MD.

Turner graduated from Purdue University and IU School of Dentistry. Upon her graduation in 1975, she practiced in Jacksonville, NC until 1977 when she was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Navy Dental Corps. Turner was first assigned to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and then she transferred to the USS Vulcan in Norfolk, VA in 1979. On the ship, she served as an assistant dental officer and subsequently as the division officer for the ship’s dental department. In 1981, Turner began working at the Naval Dental Center Norfolk.

She was selected for training at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School in Bethesda, MD in 1984, where she completed a residency program in advanced clinical dentistry and M.A. in oral biology. Next, Turner was promoted to Officer-In-Charge of Branch Dental Clinic in Bermuda. She then began a tour as a staff officer under the Chief of the Naval Dental Corps in 1988. During that tour at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Turner served as Head of Manpower Resources and later Head of the Logistics Division. In July 1991, Turner transferred to the Naval War College in Newport, RI, as a student in the College of Naval Warfare, where she earned a M.A. in national security and strategic studies. After graduation, Turner reported to Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, N.C., as the Commanding Officer of 12th Dental Company, 2nd Dental Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group. Turner assumed duties as the Executive Officer of Naval Dental Center Newport, R.I. in 1994.

Turner next reported as Commanding Officer of the combined command 1st Dental Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group/Naval Dental Center, Camp Pendleton, Calif. in 1996. In 2001, she became the commander of the National Naval Dental Center in Bethesda. Finally, she was promoted to Chief, of the Navy Dental Corps, serving from November 2003 to August 2007.

She maintains membership in the American Dental Association and the Academy of General Dentistry. Turner is a Fellow in both the International College of Dentists and the Academy of Dentistry International. Awards include the Legion of Merit (with three gold stars), Meritorious Service Medal (with two gold stars), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (with gold star), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.