Thomas Sample Turner was born April 21, 1914 in Corning, Iowa. His parents were Alice (Sample) Turner, and Daniel W. Turner, Iowa's governor from 1930 until 1932. Turner attended high school in Corning, followed by the University of Chicago, where he was president of Chi Psi fraternity. Turner married Isabel Lambly in 1936, and they raised two children, Norman and Alice.

With his master's degree in hand, Turner became Professor of Music at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa, in June 1938. On September 18, 1939, professor Turner began working as a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa, earning his Ph.D. in 1942. "Symphonic Suite in F Major" was submitted as his dissertation, and was first performed by the University Symphony Orchestra at the Iowa Union on May 26, 1943. The piece was dedicated to the composer's mother and father.

Other compositions by Dr. Turner include: "Ground Bass and Fugue in G Minor," "Suite for Four Clarinets," "Fantasy for Violin and Piano," "Symphony in E Minor," "Quartet in E Minor for Strings," "Concerto for Wind Bands," and "$4000," an opera in one act, set by Turner.

Dr. Turner became a music instructor at the University of Iowa in 1942. He was enlisted in the army from May 1944 until January 1946, when he returned to Iowa as an assistant professor of Music. Turner was a Professor of Music from 1960-1982, and Professor emeritus 1982-1994. He was a member of the American Musicology Society. Dr. Turner was the founder and first chairman of the Theory-Composition Section of the Iowa Music Teachers Association. Thomas Sample Turner died on April 17, 1994.