Thomas Wyatt Turner (March 16, 1877 – April 21, 1978) was an American civil rights activist, biologist, and educator.

He was the first Black American to receive a Ph.D. in botany, and helped found both the NAACP and the Federated Colored Catholics.

His dissertation was entitled The physiological effects of salts in altering the ratio of top to root growth and came from work done with Otis Freeman Curtis during summer leaves-of-absence from his post as Dean at Howard University.

[2] After graduation, Turner headed to the Tuskegee Institute, Alabama at the request of Booker T. Washington, where he taught academics in biology for a year.

In 1909, he became a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)[2] as the first secretary of the Baltimore branch, and was also active in promoting the right of Blacks to vote.

As well as biology he felt that the mentorship provided by teachers and faculty had a vital impact on student's careers.

[5] The FCC, founded to be a haven for Black Catholics and their goals/rights, would later disband due to two White co-leaders (and Jesuits) who sought a more interracial bent for the organization—against Turner's will.

In 1931, Turner organized the Virginia Conference of College Science Teachers in 1931, and served as president of that group for two terms.

[1] The Cornell Graduate School created the Turner Kittrell Medal of Honor for alumni who have made significant national or international contributions to the advancement of diversity, inclusion and equity in academia, industry or the public sector.