Burns, Neal M.

Neal M. Burns passed away on February 29, 2020 in San Francisco. He was 86 years old. Neal was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1933 to Jack and Esther Burns. He attended the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois and McGill University in Montreal where he received a Ph.D. in Physiological Psychology in 1959.

Neal's eclectic professional life was informed by a voracious intellectual appetite. He worked on the Mercury and Apollo space programs for NASA in the 60's, which led him to various executive positions in Systems and Research at Honeywell, Inc. In 1971, Neal joined the Higher Education Coordinating Commission in Minnesota as Associate Executive Director a position reflective of a lifelong passion for learning. In 1974, Neal opened an advertising agency in Minneapolis The Burns Group where he served as President and CEO. In 1986, The Burns Group merged with Carmichael Lynch, where Neal became a pioneer in strategic planning and branding. In 1997, Neal became the William Randolph Hearst Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin before becoming Professor of Advertising and Public Relations and Director of the Center for Brand Research. He became Professor Emeritus at UT in 2006. He was also an Honorary Professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

Neal was a highly sought-after lecturer and the author of over 75 scholarly papers across a wide array of subjects, from the human brain to human-machine interfaces to branding to HIV/AIDS health care. Neal was also a serial entrepreneur and innovative consultant. His insights aided countless start-ups and ventures in academic, business and nonprofit contexts.

Neal leaves behind his beloved family: wife Martha Russell; sons, Marc and Scott Burns; daughter, Alison Russell Sullivan; sister, Myra Levin and four grandchildren Kaylen and Tahlia Burns and Ezra and Sean Sullivan. All of them along with the other lives he touched enjoy enduring benefits from the guidance and goodness Neal offered on a daily basis whether you asked for it or not.

He will also be carried forward by a generation of students he inspired with a legacy of curiosity, wisdom and humor. His love of family, music, dance, dogs, boats and coffee cake filled his days and his mischievous spirit filled every room he entered. There were very few questions for which he did not have an answer and if he didn't know one, he would make it up. If he had the chance to read this obituary, he would likely give the author thoughtful notes in red pen and as a result, it would be better tomorrow.

It is now up to all who knew him to lovingly pick up that red pen and do that for each other.

A memorial will be held on Sunday, March 15th from 2:00 - 4:00 PM at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Neal M. Burns to the Gift of Life Transplant House at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota (gift-of-life.org).

Published on March 8, 2020