Allen M. Turner is a musician, businessman and philanthropist living in Chicago, Illinois.
In 1965, he joined the family investment firm, The Pritzker Organization. Turner’s business affiliations included serving as Director of Hyatt International Corporation and Hyatt Corporation; Chairman, Chicago Mill & Lumber Company, Greenville, Mississippi; Chairman, McCall’s Magazine; and Chairman, American Family Publishers. He is currently Chairman, ALF Investments, LLC, his family investment firm.
His interest in theater began in the 1970s and led to his involvement with Victory Gardens Theater where he served as its first Board Chairman. Turner played a key role in guiding Victory Gardens Theater to a position of financial stability and national prominence. Subsequently, he joined the Board of the Goodman Theatre, serving as Chairman from 1982 to 1985. He also served as the founding Chairman of the National Jewish Theater.
Turner served as Chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago, 1991-1996. During that time, he oversaw the construction of the current museum building and the completion of the Capital Campaign. He continues as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. The museum remains a world-class institution.
Turner’s other activities as an arts advocate included: A 10-year term as Chairman of the Visiting Committee on Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. He also served on the committee on Modern and Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago; founding trustee, Pritzker Architecture Prize; trustee, Market Theater Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa; trustee, McGraw Wildlife Foundation, trustee, Newberry Library Chicago where he was Chairman of the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indians.
He served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Columbia College Chicago, the nation’s largest arts college, from 2005 to 2013, where he endowed the Allen and Lynn Turner Chair in theater.
His academic activities include: Professor, Tongji University, Shanghai, China; lecturer, Peking University, Beijing, China; lecturer, lecturer on American Theater, Cambridge University and Yale University; lecturer, Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany and lecturer, School of Business Arts Management Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Turner was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the Republic of France, honored as Knight Commander, The Sovereign Military and Hospitalier, Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, Official Seat The Hague, The Netherlands. He also received the Distinguished Business Alumnus Award of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Business. In May, 2013, he received an Honorary Degree from Columbia College Chicago as Doctor of Arts.
He attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he received his Bachelors of Business Administration degree. He received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, and served as Associate Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review.
Musical compositions include:
Book, Music and Lyrics for his 2003 performance, HOW I LEARNED TO PLAY THE PIANO, for the Chicago Humanities Festival;
Book, Music and Lyrics for, ESTHER, THE MUSICAL, commissioned in 2010 by the National Foundation for Jewish Culture;
Music, Lyrics and Vocals for the 2006 documentary, WAITING FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES;
Music and Lyrics for the 2007 opera for children, LOST AND FOUND/A PERFECT LIFE;
Book, Music and Lyrics for the 2017, Three Oaks, Michigan, Sesquicentennial production, THREE OAKS AGAINST THE WORLD;
Music and Lyrics for the 2020 film, GIRLS OF SUMMER;
Currently, composing Book, Music and Lyrics for 9-part Song Cycle for two performers, entitled, WHAT’S YOUR NAME, the story of a complicated and troubled romantic relationship.
Turner composes on the piano, but also plays the Guitar and 5-string Banjo.