Selfless Leadership

Wynn Burrus sits on the quad on a sunny day Those who knew Wynn Burrus ’20 loved everything about her. Those who didn’t know her wish they had.

Compassion was Burrus’ default. She wrote people notes. Hundreds of them. She left, “Mom, have a great day” on the steering wheel of Beth Burrus’ car. “I hope work goes great today,” showed up at her father Erik Burrus’ office. “You got this.” She often wrote notes to friends just to tell them how much they meant to her.

Burrus was just weeks shy of her 22nd birthday when she passed away in Chapel Hill in 2019. She had just started her final year in the Undergraduate Business Program at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and had lined up a coveted investment banking job at J.P. Morgan Chase in New York where her sister, Parker, also worked.

A new scholarship at UNC Kenan-Flagler honors both Burrus’ academic drive and her selfless nature. The Wynn Burrus Fellows Fund, launched through an initial gift from Beth and Erik Burrus, supports undergraduates admitted to the business school who demonstrate remarkable leadership qualities and an unquenchable pull to positively impact the world.

The scholarship eventually will cover all tuition and fees for business majors during their junior and senior years and will include a large stipend to support global experiences or extracurricular activities reflective of Burrus’ adventurous spirit.

“We wanted to do something that would honor Wynn in a lasting way,” said Beth Burrus. “She loved UNC and she loved the business school. She was so proud to be a part of the business school. This was the best way to encompass so much of who Wynn was and support people who represent the same things she stood for.”

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