Biography of Dr. Patricia Turner

Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies

Patricia A. Turner received her Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley in 1985. From 1985-1990, she taught at the University of Massachusetts-Boston. In 1990 she joined the faculty at University of California-Davis, receiving tenure in 1993 and was advanced to full professor in 1997.

Vice Provost Turner served as director of the American Studies program from 1997-1998 and as director of African and African-American Studies from 1998-2000. In 1999 she was appointed Vice Provost-Undergraduate Studies at UC Davis.

From 2004-2006 she served as interim dean of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (HArCS). She returned to the position of Vice Provost-Undergraduate Studies in spring of 2007. Vice Provost Turner serves on the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC)'s Commission on Access, Diversity and Excellence and on the executive board of the American Folklore Society.

Vice Provost Turner recently completed her fourth book, Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African-American Quilters (University of Mississippi Press, 2009). Her earlier books include Whispers on the Color Line: Rumor and Race in America (with Gary Alan Fine) University of California Press, 2001, Ceramic Uncles and Celluloid Mammies: Black Images and Their Influence on Culture (originally published by Anchor Books 1994, reissued by University of Virginia Press, 2002), and I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Rumor in African-American Culture (University of California Press, 1993).

Turner has served as a consulting scholar on several documentary film projects. She conducted research for and appeared on camera in Marlon Riggs' Ethnic Notions which received a national Emmy award in 1989 for best research in a documentary. She also conducted research for and appeared on camera in his 1992 Peabody-award winning film Color Adjustment. Most recently, she was interviewed for a film on quilt artist Riché Richardson entitled "Portrait of the Artist: Riché Richardson."

Turner's commentary on issues related to folklore and popular culture is frequently sought by print, radio and television journalists. She has been interviewed for stories in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and many other prominent publications. She has completed dozens of radio interviews including features on Fresh Air, Talk of the Nation, and All Things Considered. She has appeared on the NBC Nightly News, the CBS Evening News, the O'Reilly Factor and her book I Heard It Through the Grapevine inspired a story on ABC's 20/20.