predecessor successor birth_place title profession birth_date term_start order image article_title term_end name alma_mater
boyd crumrine patterson brian c. mitchell holyoke , massachusetts president of washington & jefferson college academic 14 october 1929 july 1 , 1970 tenth howard burnett.jpg howard j. burnett
 june 30 , 1998 howard j. burnett amherst college oxford university new york university
howard j. burnett

howard jerome burnett is a former president of washington & jefferson college .
burnett , a native of holyoke , massachusetts , earned a b.a. degree in political science from amherst college in 1952 ; he earned magna cum laude honors and was a member of phi beta kappa .
as a rhodes scholar , he studied at oxford university , earning b.a. and m.a. degrees in philosophy , politics , and economics .
burnett earned his ph.d. in government and international relations from new york university in 1965 .
prior to entering academia , burnett gained experience in business and served in the military .
burnett was an assistant professor of government and assistant to the president at corning community college from 1962 through 1964 .
he served as president of the college center of the finger lakes from 1964 through 1970 .
he was awarded an honorary degree of doctor of laws by ithaca college 1965 .
burnett took office as president of washington & jefferson college on july 1 , 1970 ; he was officially inaugurated on april 3 , 1971 .
during that year , w&j admitted its first female students , hired its first female faculty members , and hired a woman to be associate dean of student personnel .
the school also adopted a new academic calendar to include intersession .
to celebrate the bicentennial of w&j 's founding , burnett spearheaded the `` bicentennial development program , '' which resulted in the construction of three new buildings on campus : the dieter-porter life science building , the olin fine arts center , and the rossin campus center .
during burnett 's tenure , the college acquired and renovated the w & j alumni house , restored and renovated thompson memorial and mcmillan halls , added several residence facilities , and opened the student resource center .
the college expanded its academic programs to include the entrepreneurial studies program , the freshman forum , and cooperative international education programs with institutions in england , colombia and russia , and student enrollment grew from 830 in 1970 to 1,100 in 1998 .
burnett retired as president on june 30 , 1998 .
the howard j. burnett center at washington & jefferson is named after him .
