She will be honored with the award as part of the annual President’s Council Dinner at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 25, in the Show Me Center.

The Friend of the University award, which recognizes those who support and who are closely associated with the mission, purposes, plans and programs of the University, is the highest honor bestowed by the Southeast Missouri University Foundation. The award honors Burns’ long-time commitment to philanthropy and generosity to Southeast Missouri State University.

“It is an honor to recognize Dr. Linda Burns as Southeast’s first tenured faculty member to be named Friend of the University,” said Dr. Carlos Vargas, president of Southeast Missouri State University. “For more than three decades, Dr. Burns shaped the lives of Southeast students. Her years of dedication in the classroom modeled generations of successful alumni. After her retirement she has continued to support the University, providing scholarship opportunities that allow our students to achieve their academic goals. We are extremely indebted to Linda for her unwavering support for the Southeast Missouri University Foundation, KRCU and Southeast Symphony. We are grateful for her commitment for all she has done and continues to do for Southeast Missouri State.”

“I am very humbled and truly grateful to be recognized as a Friend of the University,” Burns said. “I have been very blessed with much support from many quarters in the past. I hope to continue to pay it forward to Southeast students.”

Burns began her teaching career at Southeast in 1968 as a lecturer, the term given to the wife of a faculty member at that time. She became an instructor, and was granted leave to pursue her doctorate, which she received from University of Missouri - Columbia. She returned to a highly successful, 33-year professorial career at Southeast, retiring in 2001 as professor emerita of English. Her late husband, Robert, also retired Southeast professor emeritus of English, after a 35-year career.

“I had a wonderful career of 33 years teaching in both the Department of English and the Department of Secondary Education and retiring as professor emerita,” Burns said. During that time, I had very supportive administrators. I also had very congenial and supportive colleagues, and over 5,000 wonderful, challenging and sometimes exasperating students, many of whom were first generation college students, as I had been.” 

Burns’ career went well beyond her classroom. She served as advisor for Students of Language Arts and for the Southeast Missouri English Teachers Association. She also served as president of the Missouri Association of Teachers of English and as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council of Teachers of English. 

She was also a founder and coordinator of the Southeast Writing Achievement Awards, served as acting chair of the then Department of Secondary Education, and received honors and awards for “Outstanding Service” and for “Effective Teaching of Children’s Literature and Significant Influence on English Education in Schools of the University Service Region.” In 2014, she was awarded Southeast’s Distinguished Service Award. 

Her philanthropic support is felt in many areas of campus, including scholarship support provided through the Dr. Robert and Dr. Linda Burns Scholarship; the Linda L. Burns Endowed Scholarship in English Education; and the Robert A. Burns Endowed Scholarship in Theatre. Burns also established the Dr. Linda Burns Department of English Endowed Fund to support undergraduate student professional development. 

Burns touched the lives of her students in the classroom for over three decades, but her generosity continues to touch the lives of Southeast students. Forty-two students have been recipients of the Burns’ scholarships since inception, receiving nearly $45,000 in awards. 

Her generosity goes beyond her financial support of Southeast through her service. Burns is a long-time KRCU Circle member, and member of the Southeast Missouri University Foundation’s Horizon Club, President’s Council and Copper Dome Society. She currently serves on the Southeast Missouri University Foundation Board of Directors and the Southeast Symphony Board.

“Robert and I were so pleased to be able to ‘pay it forward’ for those scholarships we had received,” Burns said. “And in honor of my husband’s love of music, I am pleased to be able to support scholarships to the Southeast Symphony and internships at KRCU.”

In the Cape Girardeau community, she has served on the boards of the League of Women Voters, the Southeast Hospital Auxiliary, and the Friends of the Cape Girardeau Public Library Foundation. She is also a member of the local Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Chapter JN.

Burns and her late husband, Robert, are originally from Kansas and graduates of Emporia State University.