The winner of the John Turner Award for the outstanding Honors thesis in the College of Liberal Arts for the 2012 calendar year is Elizabeth Troolin, a major in Political Science. Her thesis, "Party System Transformation in Brazil: Evidence from Textual Analysis of Manifestos, 1988-2012," was completed under the supervision of Professor David Samuels. Elizabeth is currently on a Fulbright Fellowship and woking at La Universidad de Cartagena in Colombia.
Political science professor Emeritus John E. Turner, a globally recognized leader in social sciences, received his master's degree (1949) and his Ph.D. (1950) from the University of Minnesota. His distinguished career at the University of Minnesota spanned nearly four decades. His outstanding scholarship was underscored in 1974 when he was made a Regents' Professor. During his tenure he was also awarded the Morse-Alumni Award for Undergraduate Teaching. He authored, co-authored, and edited approximately thirty publications during the course of his career. He was instrumental in the creation of the International Studies Association, the premier scholarly association for the study of international relations. In his numerous leadership roles he served as an influential public figure who contributed to the world of social science in countless ways.
