Francis Turner (engineer)

Apr 24, 2026 - 14:35
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Francis Turner (engineer)

Biography: MOS:GEOLINK

← Previous revision Revision as of 09:04, 24 April 2026
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{{short description|American administrator}}
{{short description|American administrator}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Francis Cutler Turner
| name = Francis Cutler Turner
| image = Francis_Cutler_Turner.png
| image = Francis_Cutler_Turner.png
| image_size =
| image_size =
| caption =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|12|28}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|12|28}}
| birth_place = [[Dallas, Texas]], U.S.
| birth_place = [[Dallas]], Texas, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|10|6|1908|12|28}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|10|6|1908|12|28}}
| death_place = [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]], U.S.
| death_place = [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]], U.S.
| education = Texas A&M University
| education = Texas A&M University
| title = Administrator of the [[Federal Highway Administration]]
| title = Administrator of the [[Federal Highway Administration]]
| term_start = March 13, 1969{{Cite web|url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/general/busttrust/index.cfm|title = Supplimental Article - Busting the Trust Supplement, July 2013 - N/A}}
| term_start = March 13, 1969{{Cite web|url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/general/busttrust/index.cfm|title = Supplimental Article - Busting the Trust Supplement, July 2013 - N/A}}
| term_end = June 30, 1972{{Cite web|url=https://www.roadsbridges.com/mr-highways%E2%80%99-legend-passes|title=Search | Roads & Bridges|access-date=2019-06-08|archive-date=2020-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502140611/https://www.roadsbridges.com/mr-highways%E2%80%99-legend-passes|url-status=dead}}
| term_end = June 30, 1972{{Cite web|url=https://www.roadsbridges.com/mr-highways%E2%80%99-legend-passes|title=Search | Roads & Bridges|access-date=2019-06-08|archive-date=2020-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502140611/https://www.roadsbridges.com/mr-highways%E2%80%99-legend-passes|url-status=dead}}
| president = [[Richard Nixon]]
| president = [[Richard Nixon]]
| predecessor = [[Lowell K. Bridwell]]
| predecessor = [[Lowell K. Bridwell]]
| successor = [[Norbert Tiemann]]
| successor = [[Norbert Tiemann]]
}}
}}


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==Biography==
==Biography==
He was born on December 28, 1908, in [[Dallas, Texas]], and spent his childhood in Texas, including in [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]].{{cite news |first=Jim |last=Fuquay |title=Fuquay, Aleshire, Bowen & Co. |work=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] |date=2000-01-03 }} He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from [[Texas A&M University|Texas A&M]] in 1929 and a graduate degree in civil engineering from there in 1940.
He was born on December 28, 1908, in [[Dallas]], Texas, and spent his childhood in Texas, including in [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]].{{cite news |first=Jim |last=Fuquay |title=Fuquay, Aleshire, Bowen & Co. |work=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] |date=2000-01-03 }} He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from [[Texas A&M University|Texas A&M]] in 1929 and a graduate degree in civil engineering from there in 1940.


Turner's career began in earnest with an assignment to oversee [[Federal-aid highway program|Federal-aid]] road projects in [[Arkansas]]. Afterwards, he was asked to work on the [[Alaska Highway]], where he is credited with implementing the [[milepost]] system. Post [[World War II|WWII]], he was asked to oversee repairs of the [[Transportation in the Philippines|road system in the Philippines]].{{cite book |title=The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways |first=Earl |last=Swift |date=2011 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |isbn=978-0618812417 |pages=172–174 }}
Turner's career began in earnest with an assignment to oversee [[Federal-aid highway program|Federal-aid]] road projects in [[Arkansas]]. Afterwards, he was asked to work on the [[Alaska Highway]], where he is credited with implementing the [[milepost]] system. Post [[World War II]], he was asked to oversee repairs of the [[Transportation in the Philippines|road system in the Philippines]].{{cite book |title=The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways |first=Earl |last=Swift |date=2011 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |isbn=978-0618812417 |pages=172–174 }}


Turner was appointed by [[Dwight David Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] to be the Executive Secretary of the Clay Commission [[President's Advisory Committee on the National Highway Program]] in 1954. He then worked as the deputy commissioner, chief engineer, and Federal Highway Administrator. As the [[United Kingdom|British]] newspaper ''[[The Independent]]'' noted in Turner's 1999 obituary, Turner's resume can be read in the landscape: When the young area engineer began his career in [[Arkansas]], "most American roads were dirt and gravel." As of 1999, America offered 42,000 miles of Interstate; these miles had been developed at a cost of $130 billion, much of that capital "personally superintended by Turner."{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991007/ai_n14281820
Turner was appointed by [[Dwight David Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] to be the Executive Secretary of the Clay Commission [[President's Advisory Committee on the National Highway Program]] in 1954. He then worked as the deputy commissioner, chief engineer, and Federal Highway Administrator. As the [[United Kingdom|British]] newspaper ''[[The Independent]]'' noted in Turner's 1999 obituary, Turner's resume can be read in the landscape: When the young area engineer began his career in [[Arkansas]], "most American roads were dirt and gravel." As of 1999, America offered 42,000 miles of Interstate; these miles had been developed at a cost of $130 billion, much of that capital "personally superintended by Turner."{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991007/ai_n14281820
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