Deborah Ann Turner

She was born in Mason City, Iowa[2] in 1950.[3] She graduated from Mason City High School in 1969. In 1973 she received a B.S. degree from Iowa State University[4] where she was the first African-American woman asked to join a sorority.[5] Turner was first interested in medicine because her older sister, Delores, was a registered nurse. She later became interested in becoming a doctor when her husband asked why she didn't become a doctor.[6] She went on to earn her M.D. from the University of Iowa in 1978.[4] In 1985 she became the first African-American certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the specialty of gynecologic oncology.[7][3]

In 2007[2] she received her J.D. from Drake University. 

Turner practice gynecologic oncology for 35 years at several universities including the University of Nebraska, the University of Iowa and the Medical College of Wisconsin.[5] While working as a gynecological oncologist, she traveled to Tanzania multiple times to participate in medical missions and has worked with different medical centers to help the children.[8] In July 2015 she stopped practicing medicine to work at the Iowa-based Outreach Program as vice president of International Programs.[9] In June 2020 Turner was elected president of the League of Women Voters.[10][11]

In 1983 she was named an 'outstanding young woman of America'.[4] Turner was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame in 2013[12][5] and received the Gertrude Rush Award from the National Bar Association in 2015.[13]