George Turin was born in New York City on January 27, 1930. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1947, then received the S.B. (1951), S.M. (1952) and Sc.D. (1956) degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His professional career mixed a presence in industry with one in academia.

From 1952-56 he worked at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, MA, while getting his Sc.D. From 1956-60 he was a staff member of the Hughes Research Laboratories, Culver City and Malibu, CA. He joined the EECS Department as a faculty member in 1960, where he performed research in communication theory and systems, communication networks, and urban radio communication. He served as department chair from 1980 - 1983. He left UC Berkeley briefly for UCLA, and served there as Dean of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

He also served as Vice President, Technology, of Teknekron Corporation, a Bay Area firm he helped found in 1968. Teknekron specialized in starting high-technology firms with close links to researchers in universities and other research institutions. He also served as a consultant to numerous industrial and government organizations.

He was a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow of the British Science and Engineering Research Council, and was a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He served as a trustee of the College Preparatory School of Oakland, CA, and on the Board of Tenera Corporation.

Prof. Turin retired from UC Berkeley in 1990, and passed away in March 2014.