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Tom Burns, Wharton and Fels

Thomas Francis Burns, former assistant professor at the Wharton School and group director at the Fels Institute of Government at Penn, passed away on August 3 from cancer. He was 71.

Dr. Burns received an undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Minnesota in 1969, a masters of environmental studies from York University in Toronto in 1972 and a PhD in social systems sciences from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1981.

He went on to join Wharton’s faculty in 1981 as an assistant professor in the department of social systems sciences. He also served as a senior research associate for Wharton’s Management and Behavioral Science Center (MBSC) for several years. From 1986 until he left Penn a few years later, in addition to teaching, he was also the director of the organization and management group at what was then called the Fels Center for Government (now the Fels Institute).

After leaving Penn, Dr. Burns went on to become the founding director of the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning in Philadelphia, a national evaluation and strategy firm committed to innovation and shared learning in the social sector and then served as president of Urban Ventures Group, a national community development consulting company.

Dr. Burns is survived by his husband, Ray Davis; and brothers, Terrence and Timothy.

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