George Wm Turner recognized as outstanding professional staff member

George Wm Turner, principal systems programmer and administrator for University Information Technology Services (UITS), has been named one of two "Outstanding Professional Staff Members on the Bloomington Campus for the 2003-2004 academic year." Turner will receive recognition at a December 15 awards ceremony.

"I'm honored to have been selected to receive this award. I would like to thank my manager, director, and coworkers; I am a product of my environment and this award is a reflection of the fine compatriots I work with," said Turner.

"I can't think of anyone more deserving of this award than George. He is dedicated, has tremendous technical skills, and is simply a wonderful person to work with," said UITS Research and Academic Computing Director Craig Stewart. "We could not have successfully implemented the AVIDD system without George's leadership and dedication. I know I speak for all of UITS when I say we're proud of him."

Turner has been a professional employee at Indiana University for 17 years. In 1999, he began his current position with the UITS Research and Technical Services (RATS) group. During this phase, Turner has had experience working with all the major systems managed by RATS. Specific achievements have included upgrading the research system's file server, improving the systems reliability and robustness of the Steel cluster which currently serves 30,000 users, and utilizing his experience in scientific computing to help increase the productivity of research computing users at Indiana University. Turner currently leads the project team for the AVIDD Linux clusters, one of the fastest supercomputing systems in the US. Turner says, "It's very gratifying to be involved in interesting projects like AVIDD."

Prior to joining UITS, Turner served as a research analyst and programmer with the Department of Astronomy. When he started in 1986, he was tasked with managing three MicroVAXes. By 1999, that number had expanded to 85 departmental servers and another 35 desktop systems. Among his proudest achievements with the Department of Astronomy was his involvement with the RoboScope/SpectraBot projects, where the project team was able to turn one of IU's Goethe Link research telescopes into a totally autonomous robotic telescope.

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Posted 1 December 2003
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