Our Alumni - Bridget burns

Bridget had a relatively humble beginning in the state of Montana. And as she puts it, the Oregon State University team took a chance on her. And I think what happened for Bridget was she came to Oregon State University, she brought with her a passion for learning and a passion for service. And she connected that deeply to the mission and the role of an institution like Oregon State University and ultimately took that and went beyond and talked about the mission of public universities. She brings the same sort of energy to the legislature; bring private and public together for the common good. And that sort of innovation is at the core of what we think is the Oregon vision, the Oregon model. Bridget came to me one day with a big idea. It was to bring a Nobel Prize winner, Mohammed Yunus to Oregon to help engage students and show that Oregon students can really make a difference in solving big challenges in Oregon. At the time, it was simply a dream. She had Yunus, which was big in it, but she had nothing other than that. I was kind of unsure of— would this actually work? Would people show up for this? Would there be good projects that were proposed? And the answer was yes in every instance. A couple of years ago, she decided that foster kids in Oregon had a bad break through life, and ought to have free tuition at the colleges and universities. And she took it upon herself to work that all the way through the legislature to get it approved. When she was on the commission for children and families, she saw the need, and said, "Well we have got to do something about this." And so she did it! And that is Bridget. When she see's something that needs to be done, she does it. Bridget was a major driving force behind Senate Bill 242, and really did a good job of working through what the issues were and responding to legislators and really having those conversations with legislators. We would not have passed that legislation if it were not for Bridget Burns, and it's a legacy that she'll always carry with her. The operating flexibility that we were able to get as a result of the adoption of Senate Bill 242 has been very important to us, and I'm not sure it would have been possible if Bridget had not played a critical role—not only in organizing the seven public universities, but also working very effectively on behalf of the chancellors office. Bridget is a sparkplug. I have so many wonderful examples of her leading our state forward. I think at the core of Bridget's drive and ambition is the desire to provide access and a pathway for kids, in particular kids in poverty to get a higher education. I think it has been very beneficial as Oregon looks forward to its post-secondary education system. I think Bridget has been one of the forces that have helped redesign who we are and how we operate with each other, which is going to be beneficial I think to all of Oregonians in the future. She has really had an impact and I think it's directly related to her experience at Oregon State University, and the experience she shaped for herself. She is just a truly astounding individual, and I'm just sort of sitting impatiently as it is, waiting to see what unfolds for her career because she's going to have a dramatic impact on our world. She is someone who has gotten herself into a position of responsibility at a fairly young age, but she hasn't forgotten her responsibility to pay that forward. She's been able to distinguish herself in a number of important ways because she is energetic and ambitious. But she had a real goal for what she wanted to be able to accomplish. She's done all kinds of things to really force herself to grow into a leadership role. Bridget is an absolutely focused and committed person. She has a tremendous energy, tremendous drive and when she thinks something is right, or needs to be done, it gets done.