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Gift from WVU English grad to support the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Bill Turner says he views West Virginia University as a home, a place of personal growth where he gained a greater perspective on the world. 

turner

Because of this deep connection with the University, he has decided to dedicate a percentage of his estate to the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences through a generous planned gift.

 “It’s a source of inspiration and an important part of my personal and professional growth and development,” Turner said. “I cherish and value my time in Morgantown and my time of learning at WVU. It was rich and formative for me and I really can’t thank WVU enough.”

 Turner earned his bachelor’s degree in English at Davis & Elkins College before earning his master’s degree in English in 1974 and a Ph.D. in English in 1984, from WVU. He also earned a master’s degree in library and information science from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

 He said he looks forward to his gift helping the Eberly College support its students and its mission to provide a high-quality education.

 “The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is incredibly humbled by Mr. Turner’s generosity,” said Dean R. Gregory Dunaway.  “It’s gratifying to know that his educational experience has been so profound that he decided to make wonderful opportunities possible for our next generation of students.”

 Turner has worked as an editor, educator and librarian. He retired from the District of Columbia Public Library West End Branch in 2015, and has since become a Washington, D.C. tour guide.

 During his career, he has worked as a librarian at the Police Foundation in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Census Bureau Library and the Arlington Public Library. He also has taught at George Washington University, Salem College, Valparaiso University, Trinity College and Catholic University of America, where he was assistant dean for the School of Library and Information Science.

 His community involvement includes volunteering for a number of organizations such as the American Library Association Policy Monitoring Committee, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Va., the Open House Arts Festival at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Friends of the Arlington (Va.) Public Library.

 A planned gift is a future gift made through financial and estate plans that allows an alumnus or supporter of the University to include a provision in a will or living trust naming WVU as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy. The amount left to the University can be expressed as a dollar amount or as a percentage of the assets to be given.

 This donation was made in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University.” The $1 billion fundraising effort being conducted by the WVU Foundation on behalf of the University runs through December 2017.

 

 

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