IRHWC Bios

Bernard J. (Barney) Turnock MD, MPH

Dr. Turnock is currently Clinical Professor of Community Health Sciences and Director of the Center for Public Health Practice at the School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago. Since he joined the UIC School of Public Health in 1990, he has also served as Acting Dean, Associate Dean for Public Health Practice, and Director of the Division of Community Health Sciences. He is board certified in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. His major areas of interest involve performance measurement, capacity building, and workforce development within the public health system.

He has extensive practice experience having served as Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health from 1985 through 1990, Deputy Commissioner and Acting Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Health, and state program director for Maternal and Child Health and Emergency Medical Services during his distinguished career. He has played major roles in a wide variety of public policy and public health issues in Illinois, including directing the development of the Illinois Roadmap Project, and co-chairing the Chicago and Cook County Health Care Summit. Currently he serves on the Board of Directors of the Public Health Foundation and the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group. He also serves as a consultant on a variety of public health and health care issues, and has recently served as a member of the Illinois State Board of Health and as President of the Illinois Public Health Association.

He is the author of a widely read text on public health practice, Public Health: What It Is and How It Works, and was awarded the James R. Kimmey Award for Excellence in Health Planning and Practice by the American Public Health Association and the American Health Planning Association. He is a recent recipient of the School of Public Health's "Golden Apple" award for excellence in teaching, and he was the developer and instructor for UIC's first completely online course: Public Health Concepts and Practice (CHSC 400), and the first online "Public Health 101" course for front-line public health workers.