Fred L. Turner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fred L. Turner (6 January 1933, Des Moines) is the former chair and CEO of McDonald's.

Turner grew up in Des Moines and Chicago. In 1954 he obtained a BS from Drake University. Turner later received an honorary doctorate from Drake and Johnson & Wales University. After graduation he served two years in the US Army and got a job at McDonald's on his return. Turner started as a grill operator, but quickly rose through the ranks and became Operations Vice President in 1958. He made the move up to Executive Vice President in 1967 and became President and Chief Administrative Officer the following year. Turner served as CEO from 1973 to 1987 and replaced Ray Kroc as Chairman in 1977. Ray Kroc went on to serve as Senior Chairman until his death in 1984; Turner took up this role in 1990 and retired in 2004. Since 2004 he has served as Honorary Chairman of McDonald's.

Turner is seen to have been as much as an influence in the operations of McDonald's as its founder, Ray Kroc. Under his leadership there were massive expansions and McDonald's now operates in 53 countries, with over 11,800 stores.

Turner also served as a director for Aon Corporation, Baxter International Inc. and W.W. Grainger, Inc. Age magazine named him "Ad Man of the Decade" for the 80's and he received the Horatio Alger Award in 1991.

He is a member of the Bohemian Club and the Outpost camp at Bohemian Grove.