Jackson State University professor, Marvel A. Turner Sr., Ph.D., was recently honored for his efforts to promote diversity during a celebration hosted by the Mississippi Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning.
The program recognized campus and community leaders for the impact they have made in advancing diversity and encouraging understanding and respect. The board honored faculty from each of the state’s public universities. Former Mississippi Gov. William Winter received the Community Leader Award.
“It was extremely rewarding to be nominated, and exciting to be nominated with a group of people from the other institutions. Governor Winter was also honored that day,” Turner said. “To be with that group of people means a lot to me.”
Turner, a practicing certified public accountant, has spent many years promoting diversity in the accounting profession, as well as in the greater Jackson business community. He has worked at JSU since 1982.
Turner was among the first wave of Mississippi African Americans and JSU accounting graduates to pass the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examinations in Mississippi. Turner is an active member of the Mississippi Society of CPAs and founding director of the JSU Small Business Development Center.
“Economic development affects everyone in the community and the more people we can get involved in that process, the bigger the impact it can have on the whole community,” Turner said.
Turner served as CFO (Vice President for Business Affairs and Treasurer) at the Piney Woods School, the first to hold that position. He also served as the school’s vice president for Business Affairs and treasurer.
In 1982, he was appointed by President Emeritus John A. Peoples Jr., to the position of vice president for Fiscal Affairs for JSU, the first CPA and JSU graduate to hold that position. While in the position, he represented the university as he served on boards and commissions.
Turner was selected to the first class of Leadership Jackson and was elected the first president of the Leadership Jackson Alumni Association. Additionally, he was the first African American to be appointed by Mississippi’s governor to serve two, five-year terms on the Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy. He served in various capacities, including as chairman of the Board. The state agency regulates CPAs.
Turner also served on the Mayor’s Task Force to study the tax structure between the City of Jackson and Hinds County, resulting in the reallocation of county funds to cover city projects. He served on the Metro-Jackson Boys & Girls Clubs Board of Directors as a member and chair.
Turner received his bachelor’s degree from JSU; a master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Ph.D. from JSU.