Prof. Jean Turner is the Department Chair of the UCLA Physics & Astronomy Department. Prof. Turner is an extragalactic astrophysicist, specializing in the study of star formation in local galaxies. She received her A.B. and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University and UC Berkeley. Before joining UCLA as professor she worked at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and has been a Visiting Scientist at Caltech, Space Telescope, and the Joint ALMA Observatory. She has contributed to the development and commissioning of two millimeter and submillimeter telescopes.