Red Burns

I first spoke with Red when I was an incoming student at ITP and found that she was my advisor. I was a little afraid of her, I had encountered her at a group interview for applicants to ITP and I remember her brusqueness with some at the meeting who seemed to be trying to anticipate her views on culture and technology ( “The book is dead” followed by Red’s retort “I love books!”). She was warm and generous, and I looked forward to our chats every semester during advisement.

I came to know her much better over the years. Red was bluntly honest, fierce and compassionate. She was a mentor to me, as she was to so many others. Her vision of technology and technologists evolving from disciplines other than engineering, her ability to create an atmosphere of collaboration and experimentation made ITP a very special place. ITP has managed to stay on the forefront of technology while employing an extraordinary faculty and staff who are both very smart and very kind. Red wouldn’t have it any other way.

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