Ronald Liam Turner

Ronald Turner earned the bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from UT in 1968, one of the first three graduates of the program. In his sophomore year, he received an Air Force ROTC scholarship and became UT AFROTC’s Detachment 800’s wing commander. He served in the US Air Force from 1968 to 1973, working in the USAF Systems Command, where he was involved in fighter aircraft flight testing. He also managed the development of the laser-guided missile and the guidance concept that evolved into the global positioning system (GPS). He earned the master’s in aerospace engineering from the University of Florida in 1971 and a master’s in management from MIT in 1977, where he was also named a Sloan Fellow.

In 1973 he began a 14-year stint of advancing positions at Martin Marietta Corporation, ending his stay with the company as vice president, Tactical Interdiction Systems. While at Martin Marietta, he initiated and shepherded the assumption of management of ORNL facilities by Martin Marietta. From 1987 through 1993, he served as president and chief executive officer of GEC-Marconi Electronic Systems Corporation and then joined Ceridian (an S&P 500 Company (formerly known as Control Data Corporation) as president and CEO of Ceridian’s former electronics business, Computing Devices International. He was named chairman of the board, president, and CEO of Ceridian in 2000, a position he held until his retirement in October 2006.

He served as chairman of the Government and Electronics and Information Technology Association and as chairman of the Electronics Industries Alliance (EIA), an organization that represented over two thousand of the world’s electronics corporations. He was a member of the UT Development Council.

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  • Title Ronald Liam Turner
  • Author
  • Keywords Ronald Liam Turner
  • Website Name Volopedia
  • Publisher University of Tennessee Libraries
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  • Access Date July 11, 2025
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update October 19, 2018