Harris Phd Jr.

Waynesville, Harris Burns, Jr. PhD, age 78, a native of Birmingham, Alabama died on August 30th at his home after an extended illness. Dr. Burns attended Harvard and graduated from Georgia Tech with a Degree in Physical Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He completed two years post doctoral work at the University of Illinois, Champaign, Urbana. While he served in the US Army Chemical Corps and worked for several years at the US Air Force installation at Tullahoma, Tennessee, most of his career was spent in college teaching. He held faculty positions at Hampden-Sidney College, William and Mary College, Randolph Macon College, and Hiram College before joining the faculty of Mercer University, Macon Georgia. As the inaugural member of the faculty of the School of Engineering, he played a major role in curriculum development and faculty recruitment. He was recognized in 2005 by the National Engineering Advisory Board of the School of Engineering which expressed "deep appreciation and gratitude to Harris Burns, Jr. for his significant and vast contributions to the Mercer School of Engineering, Mercer University Research Center, and the central Georgia community in the fields of engineering and engineering education." Moving to Waynesville in 1996, he was an active supporter of the Waynesville Library serving on the board of Friends of the Library and participating as visiting lecturer in two of the series sponsored by the Friends. In 2000, at the request of Haywood Community College, he returned to the classroom to teach their introductory chemistry course-a year so satisfying and fulfilling that the family has established the Harris Burns Memorial Scholarship to which memorials may be made c/o Haywood Community College Foundation, 185 Freedlander Drive, Clyde, NC 28721. Dr. Burns is survived by his wife of 50 years, Priscilla Goree Burns; two children, Margaret Burns Miller, of Boston, Massachusetts and Andrew Knowlton Harris Burns, of Portland, Oregon; two grandchildren, Julian and Aurora Miller; and two sisters, Mary Burns Landt, of Oxford, Georgia and Harriet G. Burns, of Thomasville, Georgia. Dr. Burns was a member of St. Andrews Episcopal Church of Canton. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.