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William H. Turner: The man behind the scenes
Meet William H. Turner, IC’s Chairman of the Board. Few parents have seen him. Only several handfuls of alumni have met him. But he’s very much there – this man behind the scenes pulling the strings which helped shape IC’s destiny.
This destiny could have been very different from the one that exists today. For one thing, IC itself could have been in Greece or Egypt, Ain Aar campus may never have been built and IC may not have purchased its campus let alone build a new elementary school.
Yet perhaps it was Turner’s own destiny which assigned him the task of IC’s survival. For somehow, the mission of this American businessman – with no prior links to the school - had become, for better or worse, IC itself.
Fortunately for IC, Turner is an avid believer in volunteer work. (And very fortunately for IC, he can cover his own expenses and donate bigheartedly).
For Turner, Lebanon’s tumultuous years began around the same time he joined the Board. Unbeknown to him, many tough decisions were ahead.
Destiny knew what it was doing however. Bill Turner was a force to be reckoned with. He was, after all, accustomed to a whirlwind lifestyle and took pertinent decisions in his stride.
To the business world, he is the former Vice-Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank (formerly Chemical Banking Corporation) and President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the PNC Bank and the President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Franklin Electronic Publishers and Senior Partner of Summus Ltd., a consulting firm. University and later Acting Dean of the Business School at Montclair State University. Not to mention a professor in many international universities.
Still, a long list of impressive achievements hardly prepared him for the chain of horrendous events that had befallen the Middle East in the 1970s and '80s.
IC was on the brink of a financial disaster. Money was running low. Turner found himself under pressure to relocate the school to Greece, or Egypt, or “many other suggested countries,” he recalled. It wasn’t an easy decision. A wayward shell falling on campus would have killed hundreds. Life and death decisions were in his hands. Next door, AUB President Malcom Kerr was assassinated in 1984 soon after AUB took the decision to keep the university open. Another worry: foreign teachers. Kidnapping of foreigners was at an all-time high (a former IC director, Frank Reed, was
kidnapped in 1986 and released three and a half years later). No, he finally said. “IC will stay where it is.” As long as the bills are being paid, the school’s doors will remain open.
Meanwhile, Turner’s real job was with the Chemical Bank in the Middle East. Word got to him that two of his US employees in Iran were in the vicinity on the very day the hostage crisis erupted in 1979. Instinct told him to get his employees out of there immediately. The employees balked, accusing Turner of over-dramatizing the situation. Turner delivered an ultimatum: get on the first plane out or get fired. (Although the two men were seized at the airport, they were released that same day).
Another disaster struck just a year later. This time it was in Liberia. The partner of the Chemical Bank was no other than the Liberian president himself, William Tolbert. In 1980, Tolbert was assassinated. The bank directors were gathered and shot. Devastated, Turner concentrated on trying to get his American employees out of the country. He finally succeeded after appealing to the US government for help.
“There were decisions all over the place at the same time,” said Turner. “We had to make decisions about Beirut, Iran, Egypt, and Liberia.”
The 1980s saw another momentous decision in IC’s history: a capital campaign to build another campus in Ain Aar for students living in the east side of the country. The continuous battles had made it impossible for them to reach Ras Beirut. Turner came against much resistance. “Even the US government told me that if we do this, we are accepting the partitioning of the country,” he said, “and that we would not receive any financial support for that campus. Even AUB called me and said don’t do it.”
With the Board’s support, Turner stubbornly went ahead with the decision. In 1988, IC’s Ain Aar branch opened its doors and today is attended by 854 students. Despite many demands, Turner insisted that secondary level students commute to the Ras Beirut campus. “I believe in IC’s diversified confesIronically, Turner, his wife and two children lived in Beirut for a year in 1974 when he worked for Chemical Bank. IC meant little to him at the time and he enrolled his sons at ACS. He first saw IC when a friend took him to visit the Meshref campus. It was only two years later in 1976 – once back in the US – that he was approached by a bank colleague. Would he consider becoming the treasurer of the board of the International College? He became the chairman nine years later in 1985.
Often, banks that hold the accounts of an institution assign a bank member to be on the Board. Chemical Bank was the bank at the time. Turner, whose business travels frequently took him to Lebanon, seemed like a natural choice. The son of a teacher, Turner immediately took a keen interest in the school and its affairs. “There were days that I asked myself why am I doing this?” he said. “I never got to the point where I wanted to quit. But yes, I asked myself why. Many people have asked me that. My family has asked me that. But they are supportive. They understand.”
After almost 50 years of marriage and two grandchildren, Turner has yet to relent. He’s been the chairman of four local hospitals, president of his local museum, an elected official and president of the Golf Club in his hometown. Other than IC, he serves on the board of four different companies and already has retired four times. “At least that’s how many retirement parties that have been thrown for me,” he chuckled.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
A travel ban in 1981 prevented Turner from coming to the country but he was on the first plane back once the ban was lifted in 1997 and - much to his amusement - became a media celebrity for a while as one of the first Americans back.
In 2008, Turner announced IC’s biggest project yet: the completion of the purchase of the Ras Beirut campus from AUB and the construction of the new elementary In November 2010, ground for the new construction project was broken and the building of the new elementary school is well under way.
On November third, IC held a special dinner at the Bristol Hotel in Turner’s honor to thank him for his 35 years of service to the school.
“I feel very honored to be chairman of such a great institution for so long,” he said. “There were a lot of difficult decisions but, hopefully, the choices we took were good ones. But when you cut through everything else, when you have doubts, all you have to do is meet the kids and you keep going.
